The Doctor and The Outcast
by mushroom0123
Summary: What happens when a depressed Doctor meets a down-on-her-luck girl? Mayhem and fun ensue as the two reluctantly travel together saving creatures, civilizations, and each other. Rated M for basically all the reasons.
1. Drowning Sorrows

Hello Whovians...this story takes place just after Journey's End. It's gonna be a long one so sit tight. I'll probably released a chapter or two a week, depends...I'm not finished with it yet but I'm getting there. Rated M for basically all the reasons. Bit of 'Dark Doctor' in this one. R&R please! Enjoy :)

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The Doctor never drank. Well that's a lie, he rarely drank, there was that one time in France with Reinette. When he had Rose and Mickey, but mostly Rose. Rose. His Rose. Two years and he still hadn't gotten over Rose. And then just seeing her and sending off his metacrisis to be with her made it so much worse. It should've been him, not his doppelganger. Him. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair anymore. Rose, Mickey, Martha, Sara Jane, even Jackie scarily enough. And Donna…Donna Noble. His best friend…doesn't even remember him anymore.

Tonight was an exception; the Doctor was going to have a drink. Rose and Mickey had taken him to a street lined with pubs once, to get the 'London feel' they called it. He was pretty sure Mickey just wanted to prove his masculinity and try to out drink him to impress Rose or something stupidly human. Of course he didn't drink anything then, but at least he knew where to go. He felt most at home in London, near Powell Estates. Well, not as at home in the TARDIS. And not as at home as Gallifrey but of course that wasn't an option anymore, now was it? But the TARDIS had just been so full of his friends and now there was no one. There hadn't been anyone for several weeks and he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't be there right now. He needed to get out. Never thought he'd think that in his life. Much less go looking for alcohol.

He parked a block away from Lindon Avenue, the street with all the pubs. He put on his overcoat and stalked out of the TARDIS door. The night was surprisingly cold. Or maybe he just felt cold, who knew? He certainly didn't care. He just needed to get out of his right state of mind. He passed three pubs before coming to one that looked exceptionally dark on the inside. He walked in and went directly towards the end of the bar. The room was almost completely empty except for a couple in a booth in the corner. She was a blonde. Of course she was, anything the universe could do to hurt him now, the fucking universe would do.

'What had Mickey ordered that had him out of his mind in a matter of seconds? Some bomb. Car bomb? An Irish Car Bomb. You're supposed to drink it really fast, right? Any intake of alcohol really fast will do major damage to anyone, no matter their tolerance level. It all had to do with the…no, stop. Stop thinking. For once.'

"Hello? You listening?" The Doctor looked up to see the bartender staring at him, how long had he been there for? "What do you want?" The Doctor stared at him, completely confused. He quickly regained his mind, "Irish Car Bomb."

"You got it." The bartender walked off to fill his order. The Doctor searched through his pockets for his wallet. Donna had made him buy one when they went to 1980s San Francisco. He hated it at first, but then he realized how useful it was. A plain, simple, brown, two-fold wallet. It held British pounds, American dollars, Euros, Chinese yuan, his 51 century credit stick, and a picture he drew of his parents. And one he drew of Rose. He pulled it out of his wallet and admired it. It was done a bit sloppily but he got her eyes and her smile. And the way her hair sometimes fell in front of her face. Why was there water on the bar? Was there a leak in the ceiling? No, he was crying. He lost track of how many times he had cried since he left Rose, Jackie, and that imposter in Pete's World.

He shoved the sketch back into his wallet and reached for the pounds. Good, he had thirty pounds, plenty to pay for a couple of drinks. The bartender came back around with the shot glass and the pint. "Five." The Doctor handed him the five, dropped the shot into the pint and threw it all back. As soon as he set the pint down he realized that not even his superior Time Lord biology could keep up with that. Humans had fantastic ways of destroying themselves. He was already feeling a bit woozy. The room seemed much darker. He then realized there was music playing, he must not have noticed it before because now it was pounding in his ears. Some sort of slow, sad song. He couldn't quite make out the words, if there were any. 'Fucking humans' he thought to himself, 'fucking humans and their fucking alcohol.' He glared up at the bartender and nodded and he went off to make another one for him. He came back, the Doctor paid, and he set it and shot it back again. He almost fell off his seat. This wasn't nearly as much fun without Rose and Mickey. Even though he had to support them both back to the TARDIS. Take them to their room. Where they probably had sex. Rough, drunken sex. His Rose. His pure Rose. He quickly pushed the thought out of his head.

He scanned the room again and saw that it was completely empty at his point. 'At least that fucking couple is gone' he thought to himself. "Yeah, they're here a lot." The bartender responded. Could he read his thoughts? Or had he said it out loud? Was he really that far gone? "One more regular scheduled to come in tonight. She's quite the troublemaker. But she always has the best stories." The bartender said, somewhat reminiscent. The Doctor snarled and could feel his head pounding. He laid his head down on the cool wooden bar. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but it was a nice feeling.

Then the bell on the door rang. Must've been the other regular.

"How are you doing tonight, Max-y boy?" The woman shouted. She was probably already drunk. Or he was hypersensitive to sound. Or she was drunk.

"Athena! You're a bit later than usual."

"Not my fault, fucking boss. Duchess doesn't show up, so I have to stay and finish her shift. She's not done until 12:30 and I finish at midnight. I didn't even get any extra pay. What do you expect? Life of a night dancer."

"Nah, its just cause you work for Charles. You know the kind of work he's with."

"And I thought I left all that behind." She laughed then scanned the room, "who's that?" she gestured to the Doctor, with his head on the bar. "He okay?"

"I just think he doesn't handle drinks very well."

"Y'alright mate?" She shouted down the bar. He didn't even look up, he just flipped her off. "Nice to meet you too, mister." She turned back to Max the bartender and started to laugh. "Not like I'm not used to it." She leaned onto the counter, "get me my usual sweetheart. Just make it a bit stronger than normal."

"Can do."

Did he really do that? Flip someone off? Definitely rude and not ginger. He gathered his thoughts and looked towards the girl. She was quite attractive. Taller than average. Thinner than average. Paler than average. Jet black hair but with streaks of blue and purple and red and green. Despite the cold night she was wearing ripped up jeans and a very tight, very form-fitting black tanktop with thin straps and lace. It showed off a lot of her tattoos. Definitely an unusual girl, interesting and exciting and…what was he doing? Oh, he was still a man after all. But the Doctor would never think of anything like this. Well, that was a lie too. He had, quite a few times. Rose…and besides he wasn't in his right mind. He was lonely and drunk, of course he'd feel this way. Well, he must not have been that drunk if he could argue with himself like this. He put those thoughts out of his mind too. He may be the Oncoming Storm but he wasn't a predator.  
"You got a problem?" He had been staring at her for several minutes and at first she found it flattering but then she figured he was probably judging her and she found it really creepy. "I said, 'you got a problem?'" The Doctor gulped, mumbled 'no.' and turned away.

Max came back with a pint and handed it to the mysterious girl. She paid, exchanged glances with Max, and walked towards the Doctor.

"What's your deal?"

"Leave me alone." Yep, rude and not ginger.

She examined him for a minute. "You want someone to talk to. Trust me, I can tell. I deal with this all the time. Talk. You have the benefit of knowing you'll never see me again."

For some reason that last sentence stung the Doctor. He turned to her and let out his 'Oncoming Storm glare' that Rose liked to call it. "I said leave me alone."

She sat down next to him. "No." She took a sip of her amber alcohol and cleared her throat. "Lots of vodka, some rum, and lemon juice. You want some? Looks like you need some."

The Doctor lessened his glare and looked back at her. "Why are you offering?"

She smiled and let out a small laugh, "after leading a life that I have, I know any act of kindness can be what stops someone from ending it. Sure it's alcohol, but I think you just need some form of interaction."

He scanned her and took the pint off the bar, sniffed it, made a disgusted face and took a swig anyways. He coughed and spluttered and the girl laughed at him. "Happened to me the first few times too. Don't you worry." After regaining himself the Doctor nodded and focused his attention on the multi-colored bottles behind the bar.

The girl scanned him. He could feel her gaze on his back. After several minutes of this awkward silence and observation she finally spoke. "You can do better than her. It may not seem like it now but you'll move on."

At this he sprang up, knocking over his stool in the process and then before he realized it he was shouting, "You don't even understand what I've been through! You simple little human will never understand the range of frustration and despair that I am currently facing! You don't even…" He blinked twice and realized he was on his feet. The girl's drink was shattered. Max was standing behind the bar in shock. The girl was rubbing her face. There was a red mark forming on her face. He had hit her. There was blood on her arm. The glass had cut her when he must've smashed it. His hands were bleeding too. He silently vowed to never drink this much again.

Her head was spinning, both from her drink and the force of impact. She glared at him. He tried to stammer out an apology. She stood up and punched him across the face. "I don't need your shit. You don't even know me. Don't tell me I don't feel pain you prick." She stormed out of the bar. Max had retreated to a back room somewhere.

The punch had helped the Doctor sober up. He realized his surroundings and started picking up the broken glass and put it in a pile on the bar. He felt like shit. And a bastard. Rose could do better, maybe the metacrisis was better for her than himself. She could mold him into her vision. Time to move on. He picked up the stool, left the rest of his British money as a hope to somewhat make up for it, and walked out of the bar.

He walked towards his TARDIS. He walked very slowly. As he was walking he saw the girl sitting on a bench. Just sitting there, like nothing had happened, smoking a cigarette. She heard him approaching. He started trying to apologize again. "Don't bother. You're drunk. Go home, sir. Have a nice night." How was she not yelling at him? She either really needed that cigarette or she was an extremely patient person.

"I don't know what happened…" he started.

"Don't bother." She put out her cigarette. "Get home safely." She got up and walked away.

"Let me make it up to you."

She turned around and stared at him incredulously. "Make it up to me? Listen, I'm used to much worse from men like you. You don't know what I've been through. I don't know what you've been through. Don't even try. Leave me alone."

"What's your name?"

She stared at him and shifted her weight onto her back foot, as if to turn around and start sprinting. She obviously had grown up in danger. "Why do you want to know?"

"Athena, right?"

She snarled a little bit, "Athena. You know, the Greek goddess of war? Happy now?" She turned to walk away. He ran up and grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"You were right. I need some form of interaction."

She twisted her wrist out of his grip. "I'm not that kind of girl." She marched off and he shouted after her. "No not that! Just someone to talk to…anyone."

She stopped in her tracks. Even though he had hit her, someone she didn't even know, something in his hurt eyes made her feel like she could trust him. She turned around and stared at him again. "You really need someone to talk to?" He nodded. Such a sad, guilty nod. She took pity on him, "If you really need someone, meet me at this bench tomorrow then. Noon. I'll be here if you need me. This is your last chance. And only because you really need someone. And I mean really, really badly."

He gave her the ghost of a smile and walked down the alley. She watched him leave. She continued her walk back to her flat. What was she doing? She didn't even know this man. He could be a murderer or a rapist for all she knew. Well at least it would be daylight when she saw him next. She got to the Italian restaurant she lived above and went upstairs and fell asleep fully clothed.

He unlocked the TARDIS doors and went inside. He stood at the console and considered traveling to noon the next day. But then he remembered how out of himself he was and decided it would be better if he went to sleep and tried to sleep some of this off. His superior biology should only need an hour or so. She, the TARDIS, led him to his room where he stripped down to his boxers, climbed into bed, asked the TARDIS to wake him at 11 AM, and then went to sleep.


	2. Invasion of the Firebreathers

Athena woke up at 9 AM. As always. As soon as the security alarm downstairs in the restaurant went off, telling her that her landlords were about to open for the day. She rolled off the couch and surveyed her flat. It wasn't even a proper flat, it was a small room with a kitchen and a bathroom. She had a pullout couch, a backpack full of clothes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a hairbrush. That was it. And the couch wasn't even her's. She got up and went into the kitchen for a glass of water and then into the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she finished she went to sit on the floor in front of the couch. She sat up on her knees and searched through her two front pockets, her back pockets, her boots, and her bra. She pulled out £17. What can you expect from a Tuesday night though? Her rent was due Friday by the restaurant's closing time or she'd get evicted. She was still £140 short. She couldn't make that during weekdays. No dancer, no matter how good you were, could do that. If her employer didn't take such a huge percentage maybe she'd make it. London was too expensive for her tastes but she hadn't known anything else. Dancers can't really go much anywhere else in the UK but London. She could maybe try Cardiff. Or Glasgow. Nightclub dancers aren't as popular as they used to be.

She started trembling. She quickly dug through her backpack and opened a hidden compartment. She pulled out some of the white powder and heated it in a spoon she had in the kitchen. She got a syringe and loaded it up. She tied off her vein and injected herself with heroin. She only had enough for a few more hits, she couldn't sell it, she needed it. She made the mistake of trying it once and ever since she had become addicted. She sold extra but she usually just used it all herself. It had gotten to the point where it didn't give her a high anymore, it just helped her calm down.

She sat on the floor and almost began to cry. Almost. She hadn't actually cried in years. Then she felt the pain in her arm and remembered that her glass had cut her. She got up and went to the bathroom to shower and clean it as best as she could. She had until noon anyways. What had she been thinking? She had been betrayed countless times in her life. Hurt. Stabbed in the back, literally and figuratively. Why was she trusting this man, who had hit her? Maybe because she saw he was hurting. She didn't like it when people hurt. She knew what it felt like to hurt, she did everything in her power to make sure people didn't hurt. She stripped and got into the shower and let the warm water run over her.

The TARDIS woke the Doctor up. She had been trying to wake him up since 11 but he didn't get up until 11:40, he just kept telepathically telling her five more minutes and what else could she do? Not like she could shove him out of bed. He woke with a start and realized he had overslept. He leapt out of bed and quickly got dressed in his clothes from yesterday, not even bothering to change his boxers. He ran to the galley, gulped down some orange juice and then he stopped in his tracks. His internal clock was telling him it was 11:50. What was he rushing for? He still had time. He was parked just a block away. Not only that, he had no idea who this girl was. Athena. Who the fuck is named Athena? Well, he's called the Doctor so he shouldn't judge. 11:52. He should be polite after last night. He should be waiting for her, to show her he appreciates it. But what exactly is he appreciating? Someone to cry to? Had he really fallen so low? The Oncoming Storm needed the shoulder of a stranger to cry on?

Apparently he did. This time, this one time, he did. Just once. 11:54. He walked into the console room, put on his overcoat, and moved to the door.

The Doctor was coming out of the alley and spotted the bench just down the sidewalk a little. 11:57. He quickly walked over and sat down. He only had to wait three more minutes. His foot began twitching with anticipation. He was nervous and excited at the same time. Something about this girl was interesting to him. He was probably just lonely, always being used to having someone to talk to. Besides, he wouldn't want her. The bartender had said she was a troublemaker.

At 11:59 she turned the corner towards Lindon Avenue. She had her bulky, leave-me-alone headphones on and was blasting music from her phone. She looked up and saw the man from last night sitting on the bench with one arm spread across the back and his right ankle resting on his left knee, like he didn't have a care in the world. He probably really just couldn't handle a drink. Lots of people can't. She stopped and lit a cigarette, turned off her music and put her headphones around her neck. She didn't really get a good look at him last night. He was tall, but she had realized that. He was kind of lanky, shocking that his slap had hurt her so much looking at him now. He wore a blue suit with matching blue pants and a brown overcoat with red trainers. He had glasses. Not a bad look, actually. Sort of spiky hair, styled or natural, she couldn't quite tell. He seemed very put together and like last night was a rare occurrence for him. Her anxiety melted away and she continued to walk towards him.

She sat down at 12:02 and put out her cigarette. "Bad habit of mine. 'Specially since I can't afford it. How are you feeling today?"

"Better, thank you."

"You got a name?"

"Just the Doctor."

"The Doctor. Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Well that's neat I guess." He looked at her for the first time in proper light. She was taller than average and rather thin. She almost had the look like she hadn't eaten for a couple of days. Or maybe it was the cigarettes. She had jet-black hair with red, blue, purple, and green streaks. She had her hair up in a spiky bun, sort of like what Martha used to wear, making her hair look like a rainbow fan. She had piercing grey eyes. She was wearing the same ripped up jeans as yesterday but instead she had on a purple tube top with a mesh tanktop over it. She had several tattoos, he could see a few in between the holes in her jeans and underneath the mesh, but a few were uncovered. She had one on her left wrist of the Eye of Horus. Up her left arm she had 'love yourself' in cursive and on her right arm she had 'you're perfect' in the same manner. On her neck, below her right ear she had a small heart tattoo. 'Wow she has a lot of tattoos' he thought to himself. Her ears both had multiple piercings, with multiple different colored studs in them. She had a simple silver nose ring. 'Definitely a trouble maker' he thought. She had on several bracelets, rings, and necklaces. None of any real value, but fashion statements, like the rest of her person. She wore dark eyeliner and mascara with grey eye shadow but nothing too distracting. She was quite an image.

"What are you looking at?" She said after a minute of silence.

"Nothing…just your, uhm…"

"Yeah, lot of ink, lot of metal. I hear it all the time. But it's my body so I do what I want, understand?"

"No, I understand. I understand completely. It's just that—"

"Look, I'm here so you can have someone to talk to. I'm not here to talk about me, I already know about me. Just say what's on your mind and then we'll go our separate ways."

"Yeah…"

"Whenever you're ready."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. They watched the clouds move in the sky and cars drive past them. Eventually Athena broke the silence, "What was her name?"

"Rose."

"Pretty name."

"Martha." Athena gave a bit of a wary look. "And Donna."

"So three different women?"

"I travel. It's what I do. But things don't always go right. Things happen. Things happened. To all of them."

"What sort of things?"

"Donna forgot me. I made her forget."

"How can you make someone forget? I'd like to forget a few things."

"It's a painful process."

"What about the others?"

"Martha's best off out of the three. She's happy. Engaged, actually."

"Well that's good, isn't it? So why do you even worry about her?"

"I just do."

"You don't do this often, huh? Talking."

"No. Never."

"I can tell. You're twitching. And you aren't actually talking."

"Yeah." Athena was just about to retort at his lack of interest and making her waste her time for him, but she was cut off by a nearby explosion. The man, 'The Doctor', sprung off the bench and quickly surveyed the street. He then turned and ran up the street towards the park.

Athena sat on the bench and watched as dozens of people ran around screaming. She put her headphones back on, started blasting her music, and sat on the bench and continued to watch while smoking a newly lit cigarette. She'd run as soon as she saw something worth running from.

In the park, the Doctor found the source of the explosion. A spaceship had crash-landed and taken out a few power lines with it. He cautiously walked towards the small ship. The door of the ship opens up. Out comes two extremely tall and extremely thin orange skinned aliens. They had red teeth and red fingernails. No hair. Four eyes, two main ones and two smaller ones. And they had guns.

The Doctor, being the Doctor, marched up to them.

"Hello there, what is it you're doing here exactly? This is Earth, a level five planet. You know any sort of invasion is in disagreement with the Shadow Proclamation, right?"

They answered in unison, "Crashed."

"Well I can see that. Out of fuel? Need some help?"

They continued to answer in unison, "Fuel."

"Yes, do you need it?"

"Name."

"Mine? The Doctor. What's your species?"

"Klexitor."

"Names?"

"Unimportant."

"Where are you from?"

"Machin-1."

"Ah…Why are you here?"

"Fuel."

"You said that, but what do you need?"

"Diamonds."

"And how exactly are you going to get diamonds, Klexitors? Diamonds are very valuable here, no one will give them to you."

"Kill."

"What?"

"Kill."

With that they raised their guns and pointed them at the trees in the park. After a short couple seconds of mechanical whirring the two gun strapped across their bodies produced massive amounts of fire and scorched the trees.

"Well…killing for people's diamonds. Wonderful." The Doctor ran back towards the street, he was completely helpless while gadgetless. Well he had his sonic but the fire would no doubt melt it. He couldn't risk that, now could he?

He continued to run until he came to the street he and Athena had met at. It was completely deserted. Good. He ran down a bit more to try and see if he could lay out a bit of a battlefield as soon as he got back to his TARDIS. Then he saw her. Athena. That girl was still sitting on the bench, listening to music and smoking a cigarette. What was with this girl?

He heard the Klexitors approaching.

"Athena!" He shouted as he ran down the street and towards her. Why wasn't she looking up? Why wasn't she paying attention? "Athena!" He reached her and pulled her up off the bench.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"We need to get out of here."

"Ha, we are doing no such thing. Get your hands off me!" She shoved him away and turned to walk away.

"If you don't come with me you are going to die." She looked at him in disbelief. She opened her mouth to protest but then she saw the Klexitors round the corner. "I see what you mean."

"Follow me." The Doctor took her hand and dragged her through the alley and into the TARDIS. "Do you have anywhere safe we can go? Anywhere with tools I can work with? Anything like that?"

"I've seen a lot of things…"

"Anywhere at all? Come on, think, somewhere in that little brain of yours you must know something!"

"It's bigger on the inside…"

"Yeah. It is. Get over it. Now, where?"

"You're the one that dragged me off, don't you be asking me where to go now! Usually the one that takes the lead knows where to go next!"

"Oh really? How about working as a team? If we don't work together then the Klexitors are going to scorch at least the entire city."

"Oh the Klexitors? Friends of yours? Do you owe them something, is this some sort of punishment or something for you? And a team, really? Since when are we a team, I don't even know who you are!"

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, I've saved this worthless piece of rock hundreds of times so you can thank me later if your stubbornness doesn't kill us today."

She opened her mouth, closed it again, then opened it, "Well nobody asked you."

"Rose did."

"Oh, your little Rose. Your precious little Rose. Your precious little fucking Rose. Get over her! She's gone!"

The Doctor stalked towards her and was soon towering over her, "Get over her? Oh no. That name, that girl, Rose, she keeps me going. She reminds me that no matter what, you can always do the right thing, no matter how hard, even if you know you're facing death. She's faced death for me multiple times and to honor her I'm going to face it for her. Every time. So don't you tell me to get over her. You don't even know her. You don't know what she's done for you. Your worthless little existence as a nightclub dancer with too many tattoos."

There was another explosion outside, but nothing pulled Athena away from the dark glare that she was receiving from the Doctor. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying from his harsh words. She had crossed a line, but there wasn't time for this. Not now. Not if they were going to stop the tall, gangly, orange men with flamethrowers.

She stood up to her full height, even though she barely reached his nose. She returned his glare as best as she could. After he didn't back down, he didn't even flinch, she lessened her glare. "I live above a restaurant. We can go there, I'm sure there's something there you can use." She looked around the console room. "To have built this thing, you must be smart."

"Where do you live?"

"A block south. Above an Italian restaurant. Maria's."

The Doctor pulled some levers and pushed some buttons and then there was an awful whirring from the machine. She leaned against the metal bars that were around the console. She took in the entire room and began to cry. The Doctor ignored her. He didn't need to deal with her shit right now.

They got to the restaurant. The Doctor opened the door and stormed out. Athena got out and looked around. "We've moved." The Doctor shot a glare over his shoulder, "Yeah, we did, keep up." He burst through the doors of the restaurant. The place was deserted. Athena assumed everyone had run off. She couldn't blame them. "The kitchen is this way, I figure it's probably your best bet."

Athena led the Doctor into the kitchen where he quickly moved the refrigerator from the wall and pulled out a pen looking gadget, pointed it at the metal and after a couple seconds of some awful, high-pitched sound the back of the fridge popped off, exposing a lot of different wires. She sat up on the counter and watched him work, wanting to leave but too enthralled to pull herself away.

"You probably didn't notice because you were a bit too preoccupied with your music and cigarette, but the Klexitors are a certain rare type of life form." He started babbling. He always needed to babble when he worked. Even though he truly despised this girl sitting on the counter behind him, he was grateful she knew of this restaurant so close to the assault. "They're a certain life form that live in lava and magma. They need fire. This planet is way too cold for them. However, this planet has what they need: diamonds, for fuel. No solid diamonds form on Machin-1, their planet. They need solid diamonds to power their ships. They're on a harvest. Usually they can go to planets made of diamonds but this ship crashed landed and they were able to see that there were diamonds here too. I want to get them off this planet but first I want to get them to stop hurting innocent people."

Athena watched while the Doctor rambled. She wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, he was talking a lot about the aliens and diamonds and fuel and she figured she got what she needed and started to tune him out. Instead she observed what he was doing. He had put on his glasses and then took the back off the fridge and had pulled out several long wires and some metal coiling. He then ripped out the motor and welded the wires to it. He grabbed a big pot that was hanging from the ceiling and formed a sort of blaster.

Athena hopped off the counter and opened the doors of the fridge.

"This is hardly the time for a snack, Athena." The Doctor snapped.

"Like I can afford to eat here. Lowly dancer, remember?" The Doctor waivered a bit when he realized she was quoting him. "I'm moving the food to the other fridges, least I can do for you destroying it." She started toting cheese and milk and produce into the other fridges while the Doctor continued his work. He paused from his work and looked up at her. Maybe she wasn't so bad. She was still nosy and rude, but she had some form of conscience.

"Done!" The Doctor shouted. He took off his glasses, smiled to Athena, "Allons-y!" He ran out the door and Athena followed.

They ran down the street until they reached the walls of fire that were building up on both sides of the street.

"I would make some remark about this all being for fuel but then again look at you humans…"

"Gee thanks." The Doctor smiled at her. Maybe facing danger made him happier and nicer. Like his version of an adrenaline rush. She returned the smile anyways.

"What did you make?"

"A thermodynamic reversal cannon."

"So they have flamethrowers, so you made an ice beam." He looked down at her in complete disbelief. "You understood me?"

She scoffed and looked back up. "Don't you go underestimating me just because I'm some nightclub dancer covered in too many tattoos." He was completely baffled. So baffled that he almost got burned alive as the Klexitors continued their fiery rampage.

He ran to the closest bench and jumped on top of it. "Klexitors! If you do not leave this planet immediately, I will have to use deadly force! If you do agree to leave, I can make sure to get you enough fuel to get to your next refueling station in the Andromeda Galaxy. What do you say?"

"Riches."

"What?"

"Many."

Athena laughed at the Doctor's lack of understanding, "For someone who acts all high and mighty…Africa is littered in diamonds, Doctor. That's what they're talking about. There are a lot of solid diamonds here for them. They don't want to leave, they want to harvest as much as they can."

"But they can't do that."

"But they want to! So tell them they can't!"

The Doctor turned his attention back towards the Klexitors. "You do not have permission to harvest here. This is not a registered source planet. I can get you enough fuel to—" he was cut off by the Klexitors turning their flamethrowers on him.

They blasted the bench with a steady stream of fire. The Doctor just barely jumped off in time. He landed on the ground with a thud and cried out in pain. Athena was quickly by his side and helping him to his feet. He checked the machine to see if it was working. He pulled Athena into a nearby alley.

"That fall I took damaged the cannon."

"Oh of course it did."

"I need you to get me some aluminum nails or screws or something like that."

"Aluminum nails or screws, really? Who has aluminum nails or screws? Aren't they all iron?"

"I don't know but you need to find some. They don't have to be big, just enough for me to wrap this tiny wire around."

Athena quickly thought over every store she could quickly break into. With this sort of chaos no one would notice. Wait… "My necklace!"

The Doctor stood at her baffled, "What about it?"

She took off one of her necklaces, "I made it out of aluminum foil. Crumpled it up and smoothed it out, that way it doesn't cut me."

The Doctor stared at her in disbelief and then let out a huge grin. "Oh Athena, you clever thing." He took the necklace from her and coiled the wire around it. The cannon started building up power again and the Doctor let out an extremely infectious laugh. He and Athena came out of the alley and the Doctor faced the Klexitors.

"This is your last warning, leave this planet or I'll have to make you."

"How?"

"Like this." The Doctor shot his ice beam towards the Klexitors and started freezing the air around them. They screamed out in pain and terror and retreated. The Doctor shut off the ice beam. "Now are you going to leave?"

In response, the Klexitors shot their flamethrowers back at the pair, but the Doctor's instincts are quite quick, so he met their beam with a stronger ice beam and was able to shut down their flamethrowers.

"Leave this planet."

"Fuel."

"I can get you fuel to get to the Andromeda Galaxy refueling station. That's the best I can do."

"More."

"I can't do any more."

"More."

"There's nothing else I can do."

Athena chimed in, "I think they mean 'more fuel', Doctor."

"I can't give you any more fuel. That's all I can give."

The Klexitors lunged at the Doctor and he shot them with his ice cannon. They were surrounded by frozen walls on every side of them.

"I can give you enough to get to Andromeda."

The Doctor took Athena by the hand and led her back to the TARDIS. He told her to wait in the console room and that he would be back. She watched him walk off into some hallway. She looked around the console room. She focused most of her attention on the glowing green tube in front of her. After several minutes the Doctor returned with a small bag.

"What's in there?" She asked.

"Diamonds. Enough to get them to the Andromeda Galaxy."

"You're just going to give them to them? After all they've done?"

"What else can I do?" He picked up his ice cannon and walked to the TARDIS door. "Stay here." She sat back down and waited.

Outside, the Doctor faced the Klexitors. "I have enough diamonds for you to get to Andromeda. Take them and go." The Doctor handed over the small bag. The ice had melted enough for them to get out. The Doctor escorted them back to their ship. "Now go."

The Klexitors got into their ship, refueled, and went back into the sky.

The Doctor got back to the TARDIS about ten minutes after he left. Athena observed him from the jumpseat. He was obviously very worn out.

"You okay?"

He nodded.

"Want to talk?"

He laughed in response. Then he smiled. This was the first time the Doctor had really laughed or smiled since leaving Donna at home. Even though it had only been a week, it had felt like months. And that was saying a lot for a Time Lord.

"I'm fine." He finally muttered out in response. "I take it you want to go home?"

"What's home?"

The Doctor gave her a quizzical look.

"My rent is due in a few days. Can't afford it. Lowly dancer, remember?"

"You aren't lowly."

"But still, can't afford it. I'll be back on the streets soon." She quickly realized that he didn't need to hear any of this. "But that's not of your concern. This was all a lot of fun, if terrifying. I'm sure you'll turn out okay. You're a great man, willing to sacrifice so much for such worthless people."

"Humans aren't worthless."

"As a whole maybe we aren't. As a species maybe we aren't. But many individuals are. You've just been lucky, you've met the nice ones; Donna and Martha…and Rose." He smiled a little bit at her remark.

"Anyways!" She started, "I'll be off. I'll let you do whatever it is you keep doing. Just be careful."

"On the streets again, you said?"

"Yeah. I'm used to it. I'll be okay. Just a human, right?"

"It'll take some getting used to, for both of us, don't get me wrong, but I can't let that happen."

"Let what happen?"

"Come with me."

"Come with you?"

"It's not an offer. It's an order."

"An order? You're ordering me?" He just stared at her. She retorted his silence, "You're lonely, aren't you?"

"You're coming with me. You live above the restaurant?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Come on."

The Doctor grabbed Athena by the wrist and led her out of the TARDIS doors, into the restaurant, and up the stairs. They got to her door and she let them in. The Doctor looked around and noticed that everything was in or around a backpack in the corner of the one room.

"Is that it?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's it…that a problem?"

"No, it's kind of nice. Donna decided to bring several suitcases worth. Much bigger than that one."

"Yeah…I don't own much. And that's mostly meaningful stuff anyways, not much clothing."

The Doctor put everything in the backpack, zipped it up and picked it up. "All right, let's go."

"So basically, you're kindly kidnapping me."

"Well I'll take care of you. Not like I'm going to make you ride in the trunk of the TARDIS or anything."

"The what?"

He stared at her like she had asked him if the sun was up. "The TARDIS. My TARDIS." She shot him the same confused looked. "The blue box in the alley?"

"Yes! The blue box in the alley, my TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TAR-DIS."

"Uh huh…so we're going now?"

"Yep. Come on." The Doctor walked out of the almost-flat, leaving Athena alone to look around. She quickly checked to make sure she hadn't left anything. She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste out of the bathroom and caught up with the Doctor out in front of the restaurant.

"Aren't we going to do something about the fires?"

"Fire department is already on it. We should go." He led the way to the TARDIS and Athena obediently followed. Even though she could've just run, she didn't really feel like she had any other option. Or maybe she didn't want there to be any other options. In all honesty, it was either this or living on the London streets again. He opened the door to the TARDIS and went inside. She hesitated, and then she followed him in and shut the door.


	3. Athena's First Trip

Hey readers...not much action in this chapter, just more of Athena and the Doctor getting to know each other...R&R please. pretty please!

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The Doctor reached the console and then turned around. There was Athena, right in front of the door, staring back at him. He set down her backpack.

"Well…what now?"

"What now? Now I show you the three most important rooms to you." He gestured around the room they were in. "This is the control room, or the console room, call it what you want. This is how we travel. My TARDIS can take us anywhere."

"Anywhere? Really?"

"Yeah, anywhere."

"I've never left London before. I've always wanted to go to the Mediterranean. Can it do that too?"

"Oh think bigger, Athena."

"I've wanted to go to Russia too."

"Bigger."

"What's bigger than Russia? The moon?" She said sarcastically.

"Nah that's boring, I've already been there."

"You're mad." She laughed out loud and stared at him, "You haven't been to the moon."

"I have too! In fact," he started bouncing around the controls like a small child around a Christmas tree, "I went in a hospital a couple years back."

Athena gaped at him, "The Royal Hope?" He nodded. "No way. That was you?"

"Yep! Well no not my fault." With his trademark popping of the p.

The Doctor grinned. He was actually grinning. He was getting happier again. "Let me show you your room."

"I get a room?!" Both excitement and disbelief were written across her face.

"No you're sleeping in the console room, of course you get your own room!"

"With a bed? And a closet?"

The Doctor stopped and stared at her. Was she being serious? Then he remembered her flat. It had just been a room. No bedroom. She had been sleeping on a couch for who knows how long. "Yeah. A bed." He let out a coy smile, "As big as you want. The TARDIS creates blank rooms. As soon as you step into it, it reads your thoughts and she is going to build your dream bedroom right in front of your eyes. I'll ask her to set up a few more blank rooms for you so you can build pools or lounges or whatever you want."

"Whatever I want? She?"

"Yeah, whatever you want. And yes, the TARDIS is a she. She's alive. She has a soul and emotions and thoughts. So don't be rude to her."

"Why would I be rude to the being that's housing me?" The Doctor picked up her backpack and beckoned her to follow him down the hallway. There was a silent hum from a door. "Oh, this must be your room!" The Doctor said with triumph. "You need to touch the door first, otherwise it'll read my mind and I already have a room."

"Doctor? How long am I welcome for?"

"Until I can't stand having you anymore. We don't get along, you and me. We probably never really will, we're both competitive, we'll fight a lot. Granted, we won't fight all the time. But still." He said while crossing his arms.

"I can live with that."

"I'll take you to see a few things first, I promise. You deserve it, for helping me back in London."

"Back in London?"  
"We're already in the Time Vortex."

"The what?"  
"The Time Vortex. It's how my TARDIS travels. Through time. And space. Time And Relative-"

"Yes yes yes I get it. So. Room?"

"Room! Right! After you, Miss-?"

"Athena. Just Athena."

"Miss Athena then. After you."

Athena put her hand on the doorknob. The Doctor smiled and raised his eyebrows in anticipation. He pushed her a little bit to get her to open the door. He always loved this part when he got a new companion. He got to know them better this way, got to see into their head and see their imagination. No, she wasn't a companion, just someone to travel with for a bit until he felt less lonely. He'd take her back in London in a couple weeks. Unless she continued to prove herself useful. Or she became better mannered.

Athena opened the door and looked into the room. It was a blank room; there was no better way to describe it. She opened the door into a room that was as big as a closet with stark white walls. Then the walls started moving away from her. They kept moving back until she was standing in the doorway of a huge room, at least twenty by twenty feet. Part of the floor sunk in and the little well filled with pillows and a fireplace sprung from the wall of the pit. Across from the pit a huge, four-poster queen sized bed began to materialize with a net surrounding it. It had many colorful pillows and blankets against the black sheets and comforter. Next to it a teal bedside table sprung up. She always loved the melting crayons artwork people did and her walls took on that pattern. The ceiling dropped about fifteen paper lanterns of all different colors, designs, and sizes that would be the source of light for her new room. An easel materialized in the far corner with paint to last her months, a hobby she had but hadn't been able to afford for far too long. And then near the door an extremely comfortable looking leather couch sprung up with a bookshelf full of books she had always wanted to read, like _Jane Eyre_, _The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_, and _Frankenstein_, you know, all the classics, sprung up. Not too far away from the couch an amazing sound system materialized with a collection of CDs, some by people she had heard of and others by some she hadn't.

The Doctor looked around the new room of the TARDIS. He loved it. He barely knew this girl but it seemed just so much like her. He watched her as she walked, awestruck, through the entire room, touching and running her fingers over everything.

Athena walked into the closet. "Whoa…" There was a multi-story closet with a spiral staircase. Full of any type of clothing she could possibly need for any time period, any planet. And in front of her was a small empty rack where she could put what she had. She was amazed. She walked back into the room and opened another door. She walked into her bathroom, where there was a tub and a shower, depending on her mood she guessed. A sink and space to put her makeup. And on the towel rack there were several plush grey towels, the same grey as her eyes. She walked back into her room, "Doctor….this is absolutely amazing!" She smiled, quite possibly the hugest smile the Doctor had ever seen. She had quite a nice smile, very clean teeth despite her smoking habit. Before he knew it she had flung herself on him in a hug. He loved hugs and she gave great hugs. He hugged her back and smiled and laughed along with her. When she pulled away she was still beaming, "can I see you room? I want to know what's in your head."  
"First I have to show you the galley. Can't have you starving, can I?" He was starting to like her a bit. She was very genuine. Just roughened up by life he started to think. Sort of like Rose and Donna had been, very aware of the world. Athena must've had it worse than both of them. She couldn't have been much older than Rose, maybe even younger, yet she seemed so old. Like him sort of. But a human. And a girl. But she could very easily change her mood. He still couldn't trust her, but he was beginning to warm up to her. He'd have to make up his mind when he knew more about her.  
The Doctor led Athena to the galley. "Open 24 hours, provided you can cook that is. The TARDIS doesn't cook for you, you have to do all the cooking. Well I'll cook for myself, but you know what I mean. She does have snacks though, those pre-packaged things you humans like. Granola bars and what not. They're around, in the cupboards somewhere." Athena opened the fridge. It was fully stocked with any ingredient she could imagine. And some she didn't even recognize. Maybe they were alien, he did travel around in space for a living. He had said he was a 'Time Lord', whatever that means. She'd find out one day.

The Doctor's voice came through her fog, "You know how to cook?"

"I've never cooked before. Whenever I get a flat with a TV I watch cooking channels and whatnot. I've gathered a ton of recipes over the years. They're in my backpack. But I've never tried any. Never could."

"Well now you can. Whenever you want." He always forgot how lucky Time Lords were. No real social class minus the few families at the top. Besides them everyone else was completely equal. Every Time Lord had this at their disposal. He always forgot how good he had it until he brought someone new on board.

Athena closed the fridge and turned back to the Doctor. "Where are we going?"

"I thought I'd start off by taking you where you've always wanted to go: The Mediterranean. We're going to the island of Mykonos. It's a Greek island. Just to relax, after having dealt with the Klexitors. Get you away from London. Your first real vacation." He let out a small smile.

"Wow…that's amazing…do I need a passport? I don't have one."

"Nah. We'll only be there for a day. Plus we won't be going through any airports or anything like that so there's no way anyone would be able to check for one anyways."

"Okay…how long is it going to take us to get there?"

"About an hour and a half, if that."

"I thought it took four hours just to fly from London to Athens…"

"Not a plane, Athena."

"Right…not a plane." She scanned the galley again. "You want something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry. But help yourself." The Doctor walked out of the galley to who knew where. He left Athena standing in the galley by herself. She opened the fridge again and she knew exactly what she was going to cook. She ran back to her room and got her recipe card. Chicken piccata, she always saw it being cooked on those shows and she wanted to try it.

She got back to the galley and got out all the ingredients she needed. She got enough for two. She was going to cook for the Doctor, as a sort of thank you, just in case he chose to join. If not, then she'd have leftovers. She turned on the stove and started following the recipe. A few dropped ingredients, splatters, and burns later she finished and set the table for the two of them.

The Doctor was in the console room, fiddling with the controls. He had noticed one of the levers had been sticking so he was working on fixing it. He couldn't focus on what he was doing though, whatever Athena was cooking smelled great. Time Lords only needed to eat once or twice a week. However after hanging around so many humans for so long he had started eating to their schedules and had gotten used to eating at least once a day. Times Lords weren't used to that much food intake but luckily enough for him he had an extremely fast metabolism. And he did a lot of running. He tried fiddling with the lever one more time and it still barely moved. He decided he needed his sonic screwdriver, but that was in his room, which would take him past the galley. He didn't want Athena to see him, to think he was creeping on her. She was very sensitive. But he needed his screwdriver…he could walk quickly past the galley.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" The Doctor stopped in his tracks.

He pointed towards his bedroom, "Going to get my sonic screwdriver."

"It can wait, come eat."

"But I don't—"

She pointed at the chair across from her, "Eat."

He obediently walked into the galley. He was somewhat thankful she caught him because it smelled even better inside. "What did you make?"

"Chicken." They both sat down and ate in absolute silence. Athena was rather proud with herself, she had never really cooked before, instant noodles don't count. The Doctor was absolutely amazed. Donna had a knack at cooking, but Rose and Martha had no idea what they were doing. And then there was Jack, who somehow managed to make everything burst into flames while he cooked. 'It's more fun that way!' He would always say. Typical Jack…

Before they realized it they were done eating and then just staring at each other. After a minute of awkward staring Athena took both of their plates to the sink and started washing them.

"Thanks…it was really good." The Doctor awkwardly mumbled out while absentmindedly stroking his hair.

"You can't say you're not hungry while I can hear your stomach growling, Doctor. Don't be so proud."

"Yeah…I'm going to go get my sonic now." He walked out of the room, leaving her alone. He still couldn't decide if he should like her or not. She had a lot of good qualities, she was a good cook, could be very sweet, but regardless was very genuine. But something about her scared him a little bit. However with each smile she gave him that fear decreased significantly. Maybe she was just one of those people you had to get used to seeing and then you grew to love them.

He got to his room and found his sonic screwdriver sitting on the bedside table. He remembered how colorful and welcoming Athena's room had become. He looked around his room. It was pretty plain. Everything was blue or brown: brown furniture and a blue bedspread and blue couch. He contemplated for a second how some people can be so different from others in terms of taste and imagination. Then he saw a fireplace materialize on the far wall. He smiled to himself and walked out of his room and back to the console room.

As soon as he got back he pointed and clicked and the lever was fixed in no time. Athena walked into the console room. "How much longer?"

The Doctor hadn't realized she came in. He took her in, still getting used to her colorful sight. "About thirty minutes, maybe. Twenty."

Athena nodded and then turned to go back to her room. As she headed back she realized the halls were very plain. No pictures or paintings. The Doctor travelled to amazing places all the time, why weren't there any pictures of those places? Or why weren't there any pictures of his friends? Maybe it was some sort of safety thing, if someone invaded they would know where to go or who to target to make him most vulnerable. Maybe there were pictures somewhere else. She was curious, she'd have to explore later.

She got back to her room. She picked her backpack off the ground and put it on her bed and began unpacking. She had very little to unpack, the club had owned all of her dancing clothes. She only had one other pair of jeans besides the ones she was wearing; they were black splattered with paint. A pair of denim shorts, a couple solid color tanktops with lace around the collar, one blue button down shirt she often wore as an over shirt, a couple bras and pairs of underwear, a picture of her parents, a picture of her brother, her stuffed dog and her stuffed bear, her recipe cards, £49, her phone, her bulky headphones, and a DSLR camera. She worked so hard for that camera, she called herself an amateur photographer. She could take pictures for the Doctor. She gathered up her clothes and took them to the closet and hung them on the single rack. She went back into her room and set her two pictures on the bedside table. She put her bear and dog near her pillows. She put her camera, money, and recipe cards on her bookshelf. She sat down on the couch and looked around the room. What an amazing experience. She felt extremely lucky. She really hoped it wasn't a dream.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her haze. "Come in."

The Doctor opened the door and halfway stepped into the room. "Ah…we're about to land. Get your things."

"Things?"

"You know, swimsuit, sunscreen, towel, all that. There are swimsuits and towels in the closet for you. Don't know about sunscreen."

"Oh, thank you."

"Yeah. Console room in five minutes." He nodded at her and walked out of her room and back towards his room.

She got off the couch and walked into the closet. The wardrobe resituated itself so she was facing a rack of bathing suits. They seemed to be ordered in amount of fabric, most skimpy on the left and then a wetsuit on the right. She picked a simple blue and purple bikini. She stripped and changed and admired herself in the mirror. Well, judged herself. She had lost so much weight since first getting off the streets. When she was on the streets she spent all her money on cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and food. Now with the flat she didn't have money for food. 'Bad habits' she berated herself. But how else could a dancer keep their sanity than drowning their sorrows in alcohol afterwards? Or at least this dancer had to. Although she hadn't needed to smoke since dealing with the Klexitors and she certainly didn't have the urge now. That was good.

Her muscles were still there though, that was impressive. She looked very thin but very toned. She could see all her tattoos too, all nine. She grabbed an oversized white tshirt, she didn't want to shock the Doctor, he seemed somewhat conservative. She grabbed a straw hat, sandals, a bag that she crammed with a towel, her phone, a water bottle she took from the galley, and her camera. She couldn't find any sunscreen but that was okay, she needed to get to the console room or else the Doctor might get angry.

The Doctor was standing in the console room waiting for her. He was in an undershirt and a pair of blue swim trunks. He hadn't had a day just to relax in a long time, he was really excited, much more so than he thought he would be. He knew Mykonos was a tourist spot but he was able to find a deserted beach. It would be just them, maybe he could find out more about her. Then they could stroll into town and go to a small café or something. Beaches always made people hungry and thirsty. Athena walked into the console room wearing an oversized tshirt, a straw cowboy hat, and sandals. Her hair was down, it was extremely long actually, almost to her hips. How did she manage to get it into a tight bun? Regardless, she looked very pretty. She smiled at him, that same beautiful smile she gave him when she saw her room. He couldn't help but smile back. "You ready to go?" He held out her hand for her.

"You know it." She took his hand and followed him out of the TARDIS.

The beach was completely empty. The water was a clear light blue, you could see through it. The sand was a light yellow and very soft and very warm beneath their feet. The Doctor locked the TARDIS, put the key in Athena's bag, and the two of them walked hand in hand towards the water. Something about this human was calling to him. He couldn't let Rose hold him back, Rose was with his metacrisis. He'd probably never like Athena as much as Rose, they may never be as good as friends as he and Donna, but he had to let himself enjoy her and her company while they got along.

They stopped about fifteen feet from the waves and she pulled the towel out of her bag and laid it down. It was a lot bigger than she realized, since the TARDIS had rolled it up for her. It very easily fit both of them on it, like a picnic blanket almost. Athena sat down and pulled the water bottle out of the bag and opened it. As she drank the Doctor laid down next to her. He felt the warmth of the sand beneath the towel. He heard the waves breaking not too far from them. Everything was at peace. Today was going to be the relaxing day he was desperately in need of. Then he heard a click. He opened one eye, afraid that something bad was about to happen. Bad wouldn't exactly describe it, Athena had brought a camera and taken a picture of him. She was looking at it and smiling. The Doctor normally hated getting pictures taken of him. "Athena, delete it."

"Oh come on, I noticed you don't have any pictures in the TARDIS halls. I'm not saying this will go on the wall, just in a scrapbook or something. But don't you want to remember places you've been? Things you've seen and done?"

She had a point. He didn't have any pictures of anything or anyone. He had his sketches, but no photographs. "Let me see it." She showed him and he was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a bad picture. She had a really good camera too. "Where did you get this camera? It's amazing."

"I worked for it. Put me on the street, but it was worth it. I've been able to sell a few of my pictures of 'Urban London' to studios who have paid me for them. It's a fun hobby." She took another picture of him looking up at her. He started laughing and she took another picture. "You're extremely photogenic." She got up and walked towards the water. He sat up and watched her crouch down and take a picture while the wave was just about to come on shore. He shouted to her, "You aren't a complete tourist, are you?"

She turned around and laughed at the remark, "Probably. That a problem?"

"Be more discreet!"

"There's no one around!"

He got up and walked over to join her. He held out his hands for the camera, which she gave to him. He smiled and looked through the pictures she had taken. There were quite a few on the camera. There were about twenty pictures of London; some in black and white, some in color; some alleyways and some major landmarks. Then the three pictures of him and then two of the water. While he was looking through her pictures, Athena sat down and put her feet in the water. She heard a click and looked up at the Doctor, who was now smiling and laughing. She really liked his smile and his laugh was infectious. She began laughing too, so he took another picture. He sat down next to her and showed her the two he took. "You're extremely photogenic." She smiled back at him. He then went through the photos to one of an alleyway with a ton of colorful graffiti. "I think this one is my favorite." He then scrolled to one of the London Eye, "or this one. They're all really good." He turned the camera off and put it in his lap and watched the water. Athena took the camera back and ran back to their stuff and put it back in her bag.

She turned back to the water and noticed the Doctor had been watching her. He quickly turned his gaze back to the water.

She took her shirt off and walked back to where they were sitting. The Doctor gazed up at her. She was really thin but quite lean at the same time; you could see her muscles. You could also see all of her tattoos. She was a walking piece of art almost. He averted his gaze, afraid he would offend her. She put her hair up and walked into the water. He looked back up at her. He wasn't one for swimming so he stayed put, letting the water wash over his feet. He admired her. She had a certain charm that his other companions hadn't had. Even though he loved Rose, Athena may have been more attractive. But that also may have been because she was just so different. He watched her jump over the waves. He laughed out loud when she fell and got her hair wet. She splashed towards him but she was way too far out for anything to get anywhere near him. She was actually getting quite far away. It was becoming a bit unnerving.

Suddenly, a huge wave, much bigger than the others ones had been, snuck up on her and took her under. The Doctor sprang to his feet, searching the water for her. She wasn't coming up. The wave had already passed and she still wasn't coming up. He ran into the water. Soon it was getting really difficult to run. He could feel his hearts beating in his chest. 'No, not another one. And not like this. Not like this.' He saw her hand flail above the water and he made his way towards her. He watched as another wave crashed over where he had seen her hand. As soon as that wave passed he got to her and pulled her out. She was unconscious.

"Oh no no no…no." He picked her up and carried her back to the shore. He laid her down on their towel. Just seconds after he laid her down she started coughing up water. She was okay. She'd be okay. She gasped for air and bolted up. The Doctor pushed her back down to lie down. "Rest." She stayed on the towel and looked up at him. "You nearly drowned." There was a darkness in his eyes, and a sadness. One not unlike the one she saw while he was in the bar that night. He moved away from her and stared towards the horizon. "And it's my fault."

She tried to disagree but couldn't speak. She just shook her head, hoping he'd see.

He stood up and filled her bag full of everything that wasn't the towel. He slung it over his shoulder and then wrapped Athena in the towel and picked her up and carried her back to the TARDIS. They went inside and he dropped the bag on the jumpseat and continued to her room. He kicked open the door and went into her bathroom. He turned the shower on hot and sat her on the edge of her bathtub. He took the towel from her and threw it in the hamper, dumping sand all over the floor. The TARDIS let out a groaning sound, knowing that she'd have to clean it up.

Athena was feeling weak and dizzy and very cold. She watched the Doctor pace around her bathroom while they waited for the water to heat up. The Doctor's eyes were solemn, like she had really drowned. "It's not your fault. I'm just not a very strong swimmer is all." The Doctor looked at her. He kneeled down in front of her and hugged her. She sat there awkwardly for a moment but then hugged him back. She stroked his back, "don't worry, everything's okay. Everything's okay."

Soon steam began to fill the room. The Doctor let go of her and wiped away a tear that was threatening to fall. He helped her up and into the shower. He closed the shower door and sat on the edge of the bathtub. Not like she was taking off her swimsuit or anything, she was just warming up. And he didn't want her falling over or fainting or anything without someone there to help her. She turned off the water and opened the shower door. He got up and handed her a towel. He noticed something was missing. He quickly scanned the room and saw the bathing suit on the shower floor. His eyes widened and he stared at her. "Oh…" he covered his eyes and stumbled back to the door, "oh…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry…" he walked out of the bathroom. He could hear her laughing from inside the bathroom. He stumbled onto the couch and grasped it for support. He uncovered his eyes and let his gaze dash about the room.

Athena came out of the bathroom and looked at him. He was almost squirming out of pure awkwardness. She smiled and laughed a little. "Don't worry. You're fine. Just relax." She walked into the closet and got dressed. The Doctor sat, wide-eyed. Athena came back out and looked at him. He was gaping like a fish. "Oh come on, not like you haven't ever seen a girl naked before." The Doctor stared at her. "I was wearing a towel too, you were too busy staring at the counter to even notice." The Doctor gulped and scanned the room. "You haven't, have you?"

The Doctor gazed at her, opened mouth. "I have too!"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"No…no…well yes…not for a long time."

"Bit out of practice then?" She laughed at him a little. He stared at her. How was she so comfortable with this? She barely knew him. Oh wait…she was a nightclub dancer. A stripper. She was used to this. Exploiting herself…it made him angry. She shouldn't have to do that. She shouldn't have ever had to do that. No one should have to do that. He was becoming furious. He wanted to rip every last man who ever laid eyes on her to shreds.

Athena was purely terrified. The Doctor's eyes were darkening and he was bearing his teeth. She wanted to run and hide but instead she walked towards him, very slowly and very cautiously. She got to the couch and knelt down to his eye level. He was breathing very sharply and looked almost psychotic. She touched his face, very lightly, and he calmed down instantly. He looked into her eyes, like a small child transfixed on something amazing and awe-inspiring. She smiled and he mimicked her. She took his hands in hers and stroked them. "You okay?"

He stopped smiling. He just looked at her. "Yeah, I'm fine." He stood up and made his way to the door. "Get some sleep. You need rest." With that he walked out of her room. Athena sat on the floor and stared at the door. After what seemed like an hour she got up, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.

The Doctor was pacing in his room, his new fireplace roaring with life. How? Who was this girl? He hadn't even been with her for a day and she'd already made him feel completely vulnerable more times than he could count. How was she doing this? He felt at home with her, but he barely knew her. Who was she? He flung himself onto his bed and punched his pillow. He needed to sleep. If he slept he would wake up and feel perfectly normal. He quickly ran to the console room and put in the necessary information for Imperial Russia. He would take her dancing at the Winter Palace, the Romanovs were always holding balls. He went back to his room, changed for bed, fell onto his bed and went to sleep.


	4. The Imperial Ball

Yeah this is a really short chapter...but it's still fun nonetheless (well I think so). Anyways, please R&R, much appreciated!

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Athena awoke the next morning to the smell of something delicious baking. She got out of bed, put on a pair of fuzzy slippers, and made her way down to the galley. She walked in and saw the Doctor standing at the stove. She watched him for a moment before making her presence known, "you need some help?"

What he thought about sleep making him feel perfectly normal the next day ended up not helping. He was still an absolutely vulnerable and nervous wreck. As soon as he heard her voice he dropped the egg he was holding onto the floor.

Athena was getting worried about the Doctor. He seemed very out of himself. She went to clean up the egg and he stopped her, "sit down. I'm making you breakfast. Us breakfast, actually." She grabbed two glasses, filled them both with milk, and sat down at the table.  
"You sure you don't want help?"

"Yeah, I'm positive."  
"Well whatever you're making smells great."

He half turned around to show his gorgeous smile, "Thanks. Just relax, Athena."

He was acting rather strange. She didn't put too much stock into it though, she barely knew him.

He brought over two plates of French toast with banana sliced up on top and maple syrup drizzled all over. Athena ate quickly, still not used to the idea of having a fully stocked kitchen. The Doctor watched her, transfixed. It wasn't until Athena was almost done that he realized he hadn't touched his food. He inhaled about half of it to make it look like he was just taking his time eating.

When they finished Athena got up and cleaned their plates.

"You need to get dressed up."

"Why?"

"I'm taking you to a ball."

"A ball? Really?"

"Yeah. Russia. Imperial Russia, to be exact. Be sure to wear a dress with long sleeves, it's the Christmas ball. And, you know Russia, always cold."

"Right…okay…dress with sleeves, got it. Now?"

"We have an hour until we get there so yeah, now-ish would be good."

Athena stuck out her tongue and walked out of the galley. He was being a bit snippy at her. He needed to cool down otherwise he may upset her again.

About twenty minutes later, the Doctor was already in his room trying to figure out what to wear. Should he dress as a military general or an aristocrat? There was a knock on his door. He went to open it and saw Athena staring up at him.

"There a problem?"

"I don't know what to wear. What do you wear to a ball? What dresses are acceptable?"

"The TARDIS knows where we are going. Go walk into your closet and it'll pull out anything that is acceptable."

"Oh, just like the swimsuits?"

"Yes, just like the swimsuits." He replied, bemused.

"Okay…thanks." She let out an awkward smile and closed the door. As she walked back to her room she realized that she hadn't worn a dress since she was a little girl. This was going to be a new experience for her.

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor was waiting in the console room for her. "Athena! Hurry up or we're going to be late!"

"Be patient! I've never worn a ball gown before so walking is a bit difficult! I'd like to see you try!"  
"Yeah, like that'll ever happen!" He shouted back, trying to restrain his laughter.

The Doctor continued pacing around the console room. Moments later, Athena entered the room. The Doctor turned around to look at her and his jaw dropped slightly. She was absolutely beautiful. She had taken a lot of her makeup off, only leaving a little bit around her eyes. Her hair was up in such a way that it cascaded in ringlets around her face and shoulders. She wore a shoulder-less mint green dress with a small train and a cream colored petticoat which, due to the design of the dress, was very visible. There were silver accents all along the edges of the dress that looked like ice crystals.

Athena stared back at the Doctor. Not because he was staring at her, but because he looked extremely handsome. He was wearing what she guessed to be some sort of military uniform. He wore a blue coat with brass buttons and gold fringe on the shoulders. He had on blue pants and black boots to match. He had combed his hair down somewhat, which slightly disappointed her. She just smiled at him and he smiled back.

"All right, sir, now where exactly are we going? Russia is a big place!"

"The Winter Palace! We're going dancing in 1847! It's the Christmas Ball and I would like to escort you." He held out his arm for her.

"Anything for you, Doctor." She gladly took his arm and they faced the TARDIS door. He stole a glance down at her and realized she had makeup covering up her tattoos. He couldn't see a single one. Not only that, but she had dyed her hair. It was now just black, no colors. Athena caught him looking, "I figured tattoos probably wouldn't be appropriate for a formal ball. Nor dyed hair."

"Good assumption." He smiled again, "Off we go!"

The two of them walked out of the TARDIS and onto the driveway nearby. They walked towards the Winter Palace, both excited for the night.

"Wait…there's going to have to be some sort of guest list, right? How are we going to get in?"

The Doctor searched through his pant pocket and pulled out a small, wallet looking piece of leather. He opened it and showed it to her, "Psychic paper. Can get us in anywhere. I just think of what I want it to say and it shows up here."

"So we're posing as a duchess and duke from Saxony?"

"Yes we are!"

"Wait!" Athena shouted, pulling the Doctor to a halt. "I can't speak Russian! Or German!"

The Doctor stared at her and did everything in his power to keep himself from laughing, "the TARDIS will translate for you, come on, we're going to be late!" He grabbed her hand and sped up their pace a little.

They walked up to the man keeping the guest list, flashed the psychic paper, and were led through the halls into the main ballroom. All the while the Doctor was spouting out random facts he knew about the building. "The first Winter Palace was built in 1711. When architecture took off, especially with the Palace of Versailles, I've been there, nice place. Met a horse. Anyways! When architecture took off the imperial family built a new Winter Palace in 1721. Then the family built another one between 1727-1728. The family moved out not too long afterwards, but they still come here for their balls and formal events. There was a huge fire in 1837, destroyed a lot of the palace but they rebuilt it, marvelous work. You could never even tell there was a fire! Granted a lot of workers died. But that's Imperial Russia for you." He looked around the hall in amazement.

Athena was too amazed by the splendor of the rooms they were walking by to be paying too much attention to the Doctor. She couldn't believe she was in Imperial Russia. She almost began crying, but then realized she would look ridiculous. Besides, the Doctor was used to doing this all the time, what would he think of her?

They got to the ballroom and the escort left them. They walked down the stairs, arm in arm, and proceeded to the dance floor. The orchestra was playing a waltz.

"May I?" The Doctor asked while holding out his hand.

"You may." She took his hand as he led her around the floor in a quick waltz. "So, is this common for you? Crashing imperial balls, posing as celebrities?"

He chuckled, "Every other day sort of thing." He moved his hand from her hip to her back and pressed her closer to him. He didn't want someone to cut in and take her, not yet at least.

They danced to two more pieces and then the Doctor eased his grip on her. Sure enough, almost as soon as he pulled back from her someone tapped on his shoulder and asked to cut in. He was a young man, probably in his thirties. He had dark brown hair, extremely pale skin, and piercing blue eyes. He reluctantly gave Athena to the stranger and was making his way to the edge of the dance floor until he saw a girl who looked like Rose. He walked over to her and offered his hand for her to take. She gladly accepted and the two of them started waltzing. He quickly realized this girl was not sober. She was having great difficulty on her feet and was relying heavily on the Doctor. He took advantage of that and steered themselves towards Athena and the stranger. He just wanted to keep them in eyesight, he didn't really care too much about what they were saying.

"So how did you meet your date?"

"Oh, we're just friends."

"Well how did you meet?"

"Dammit, out of earshot" the Doctor muttered to himself. He quickened up his pace, dragging the poor drunk girl with him. He could hear them again.

"Do you know who he is?" The stranger sneered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Then you'd completely understand what happens next." The stranger looked straight at the Doctor. He grabbed Athena, turned her around and pulled him against her. He held a cloth up to her mouth and after she struggled for a little bit she passed out. He glanced back to the Doctor, and with a cat-like grin, hit a short-range teleporter on his wrist.

The Doctor abandoned the drunk Rose-like girl and moved his way through the crowd to where Athena and the stranger had been dancing. Since he was taller than most everyone in the crowd, he stood on his tiptoes and looked around the room for them. They couldn't have gotten far. Then he caught a glimpse of the stranger dragging Athena's unconscious body down the hall. The Doctor ran through the crowd towards the stranger.

By the time the Doctor caught up to the stranger in a parlor, Athena was gone. "Where have you taken my friend?"

"Your companion, Doctor?"

"Who are you?"

"Me? Well, I'm no one."

"Then what do you want with my friend?"  
"It's not what I want. It's what they want." The stranger stepped aside and two Klexitors stepped into the room.

Suddenly, the Doctor's internal clocks clicked into place. It wasn't 1847, it was 1837, the year of the Winter Palace's fire. They were about to cause it.


	5. Burn the House Down

Dear **NilaEatsZombiesForBreakfast**: i was having a really bad night and your review made it infinitely better, thank you so much! please R&R guys, writers love it! besides, we all need constructive criticism and reassurance! this chapter is a bit more action packed, with a hint as to why it's rated M ;) enjoy!

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"Give me back my friend and I'll leave you alone." The Doctor pleaded with the stranger and the two Klexitors.

Two more Klexitors dragged Athena's unconscious body into the room and threw her onto the ground. The Doctor was by her side in an instant. The four Klexitors left the room and the stranger stayed behind to keep guard. All the while, the Doctor was trying to wake Athena to no avail.

"She'll be out for several more minutes at least. Just enough time for us."

"Why are you doing this?"

"You got in their way. Because of you they were not able to get back home in time and their harvest quotas were raised, making it impossible for them to ever live comfortably again. Now they're making sure you won't get in their way while still making you watch as they demolish this center of Earth culture, knowing you can't do anything to stop it. Hopefully killing you in the process."

"They were attacking a Level 5 planet without ordinance, I had to stop them!"

"Try telling them that. Have fun roasting." The stranger cackled as the Klexitors dragged in a man, also dressed in military regalia. The four Klexitors and the stranger left the room and barricaded the door behind them, leaving the Doctor, Athena, and the new mystery man trapped in the room.

Athena woke with a start. "What happened?"

"Klexitors."

"But they need fire, why are they in Russia?" She just assumed they could time travel too. Why not, right?

"They're here for us. They don't really care about Russia, they're here for us. Although, they plan to destroy the palace to prove a point. Maybe even establish some sort of reign. Who wouldn't listen to tall orange men who can walk through fire?"

The extra man in military regalia came to his senses. "What is going on? Who are you two?"

"Hi, I'm the Doctor and this is my friend, Athena. Who are you?"

"I am Tsar Nicolas the First. Now, what in the name of all that is holy, is going on?"

"Oh boy…" The Doctor ran his hand through his hair. "We need to get out of here." He tried to push the door open but it wouldn't budge. He tried his sonic. "It's blocked from the outside. We're stuck. Plus it's wood." He kicked the door and turned back around, leaning against the door and scanning the room.

Athena sat down on a couch and Nicolas paced the room. "I can't leave my subjects out there, defenseless against these demons."

"Right…" The Doctor tried to sonic a window open, "Deadlock…"

"Could we smash it? Throw a chair or something?"

"I beg your pardon! Throw a-?!" The Tsar began before the Doctor cut him off.

"No, it's the entire window, glass too." He quickly paced around the room, thoughts running through his head.

Then they heard screams coming from the ballroom. "My subjects!" It wasn't too long until they smelled smoke coming in from under the door.

"Great, we're going to suffocate! Or burn!" Began Athena, starting to inwardly panic, trying her best not to let it show.

"No we're not." Just then the door caught on fire, causing the Doctor to groan and roll his eyes. Then he caught sight of the Tsar. "Oh shit…the Tsar…the Tsar! Tsar Nicolas, what's the least valuable thing in this room?"

Nicolas quickly looked around the room, "that couch right there."

"Perfect! Give me a hand!" The door had completely burned away, but there was still a wall of fire keeping them from exiting. The Tsar and the Doctor carried the couch. "Okay, we're going to put this on the fire and then very quickly run over it."

"Won't that just help the fire grow?" Athena accused.

"No, it'll give the fire something to focus on, but we have to be quick if we're going to get out of here." The Doctor looked at Nicolas, "One, two, three!" They threw the couch down on the flames and then, just as the Doctor had said, the fire lessened in strength just enough to let them escape. "Tsar, you first!" Nicolas climbed over the couch and into the hallway. "Perfect." He glanced at Athena, "Allons-y." The Doctor grabbed Athena's hand and they ran through the quickly growing fire.

They examined themselves for injury and fire and after deciding they were safe ran towards the ballroom. The Klexitors were nowhere in sight.

"We need to go!" The Doctor shouted over the roaring fire.

"But the Klexitors!" Athena coughed, 'you think years of smoking would've prepared me for this' she thought.

"Your safety is more important, Athena. Nicolas, tell me where to go."

The Tsar and the Doctor ran side by side with Athena following behind. "We had to go to Imperial Russia, where the dresses are forty pounds." Athena said to herself. She picked up the dress as much as she could and ran as fast as she could in her heels.

The Tsar stopped in his tracks, "The Hermitage!" He turned on his heel and ran back towards the fire.

The Doctor groaned and followed the Tsar.

"What's the Hermitage?" Athena shouted after she caught up to the Doctor.

"It's a section of the Palace that hosts a giant art collection. Normally I'm all for saving artifacts, but the Tsar can't die. Not yet." Athena shrugged and kept running after the Tsar.

The Tsar was standing in front of a hallway that was completely engulfed with flames. "Doctor, how do we stop the fire?"

The Doctor coughed and ran his hands through his hair. He scanned the hallway and started mumbling to himself. The Doctor ran to a closet and opened the door. "Explosives! In a closet?! Leave it to Russia…" the Doctor rolled out several barrels of gun powder. "We need to get this ahead of the fire."

"Can we go in through the other side?" Athena asked.

"No, the fire is spreading rapidly and by the time we got around the building the fire would've engulfed the entire Hermitage."

The Tsar sprung into action and started rolling one of the barrels into the fire. "Tsar Nicolas!" The Doctor shouted. "Dammit…" the Doctor looked at Athena. "I'm so sorry about this, but we need to follow him. Every Russian monarch's death is a fixed point in time, we can't let him die now." The Doctor knelt down in front of Athena and ripped her dress off around her knees. "Grab that barrel and follow me."

The Doctor and Athena both started rolling the remaining three barrels. They caught up with the Tsar. "Doctor! The fire ends just up there!" Nicolas shouted. He started sprinting and positioned the barrel in a corner. The Doctor and Athena caught up and set one barrel on top of the Tsar's and the other two on top of each other on the opposite side of the hall. The three of them started coughing, trying to get the smoke out of their lungs. The fire quickly approached them, "Time to go!" the Doctor shouted. He grabbed Athena's hand and they ran as fast as they could.

Athena tripped over her heels, bringing the Doctor down with her. Nicolas helped them both up and the three continued running.

Athena felt a painful, hot sting at her ankle, 'probably sprained it' she thought to herself. She kept running anyways, ignoring the intensifying heat.

Just moments later they got to the door of a side entrance to the palace. There were several party guests out in the snow, watching the Winter Palace go up in flames. The Doctor, Athena, and the Tsar ran out of the Palace and onto the road.

They saw the gunpowder explode, collapsing the hallway, separating the Hermitage from the rest of the palace. All three of them took a collective sigh of relief.

Athena looked down to see how badly she sprung her ankle. But it wasn't her ankle, her leg was on fire. It wasn't a sprain, she was on fire. She screamed. The more she looked at it, the more pain she felt.

The Doctor turned around and noticed Athena was on fire. He saw it lap against the remains of her dress and spread up to her hemline and along her hip. He quickly snapped out of his reverie and took off his jacket and began to beat out the flames. The Tsar took his coat off as well to help the Doctor extinguish the flames on the dress. Athena threw snow onto her leg, hoping the melting water would help. They got the fire out and then she noticed her shoes and dress had melted onto her skin and she had severe burns up her legs. Just by looking at the injuries she quickly realized just how much pain she was in. She began hyperventilating, then blacked out from the pain and fell into the snow.

The Doctor stared at her. This was the second time he had taken them to do something that had almost killed her. He was 0-2, or 2-0 depending on what way you looked at it. He stooped down to pick her up.

"I can get the Imperial Guard to take her to the hospital." The Tsar put up his hand as if to beckon someone to come to him.

"No, don't worry about it. Thank you. I'll take her. Don't want you to have the responsibility."

"Thank you for saving my life Doctor. Her too." The Tsar turned away and ran over to his party guests, trying to calm them all down from the ordeal.

The Doctor nodded to himself and carried Athena back to the TARDIS.

The TARDIS moaned in sympathy and moved the med bay as close as she could.

The Doctor laid Athena down on the examination table and stuck an IV in her arm full of painkillers. As soon as the pain ebbed away Athena woke up. She saw the burns, but was too high on anesthesia to make sense of what was going on.

"Athena." Athena started laughing when she heard her name. "Athena, look at me." Athena tried to concentrate on the Doctor as best as she could. "I'm going to cut off your clothes now." He held up a pair of trauma shears. "Okay? Can I cut off your dress, are you okay with that?"

She smirked at him, "well that's rather sexy, Doctor. But won't the TARDIS get mad at you for destroying her dress?"

"She won't be mad. May I?"

"Do whatever you want, Doctor." She winked at him and laid her head back on the table.

The Doctor went to cut off what was remaining of her dress. He started to cut near her knees and then he almost lost focus when he cut the waistband. He snapped himself out of his perverted thoughts, she was in pain for Gallifrey's sake. He cut through the neckline and then cut from the shoulders down to the wrist hems of both sleeves. He opened up the dress and got it off as her as best he good. 'Oh this isn't fair' he thought as he looked at her 'she's not wearing a bra.' A small moan escaped his throat. Athena looked up at him. "See something you like?" She winked at him again.

"No, just, just a sore throat is all. All the smoke…"

"Sure…" She laid back down and started humming to herself. Her panties had been partially burned away but he refused to touch them, trying to save himself from going into a hormonal frenzy.

The makeup she had been wearing had partially been sweated away. Her tattoos were rather lovely, the ones he could see anyways. She had a beautiful one on her left leg, which luckily enough wasn't burned.

"Athena, I'm going to have to pull the dress off you now to get it completely off. It may hurt since the cloth is mixed into your wounds."

"Mhmm…"

"Okay. One, two, three!" He pulled the dress off her and she screamed and contorted from the pain. Her burns were much worse than he thought. They went all the way up her right leg and up her side. She had black blisters all over her hip, indicated third degree burns. Not only that, her shoes had partially melted to her feet, meaning her skin had melted with them. The Doctor sighed and pumped more anesthesia into her and she quickly fell asleep. The Doctor started to repair her burns. Luckily enough with his med bay it would be easy, but she would wake up in pain.

About an hour of buzzing his sonic screwdriver and advanced Gallifreyan medicine later, her burns were mostly healed. Her worst burns were now reduced to second degree burns at worst. He switched off the anesthesia and went to the galley.

Athena woke up not too long after the Doctor left. She looked around the room, very confused. Where was she? She felt the sterility of the room. 'Must be a hospital.' She saw the needle in her arm hooked up to a machine. 'Yep, hospital.' She continued to look around. She saw multiple machines that looked like scanners, the typical surgical equipment, and several different bandages on the counter.

She looked down at herself and saw massive amounts of bandages on her side and going up her leg. Then she realized she was basically completely naked since her panties were basically burned away as well. The Doctor must have seen everything. She panicked, which she found slightly funny since she had just been on fire.

She saw a robe on a hook on the door and went to get it, but when she sat up she felt dizzy. She waited until it passed and then she got off the exam table and promptly collapsed onto the floor. She saw the door open, 'of course he comes back now' she thought to herself.

The Doctor set down whatever he had been carrying and picked her up and set her back on the table. "What were you doing, Athena?" She tried to speak but realized she couldn't. She covered herself up as best as she could and pointed to the robe on the back of the door. The Doctor looked at the robe, then back to her, and then he went to get it for her. She put it on and held it shut very tightly. "Don't worry Athena, I am a doctor after all."

Athena stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed and handed her a mug of tea.

"Drink, it'll help your throat."

Athena smiled and drank. The two of them stayed in the medical bay until they had both finished their tea. Then the Doctor picked Athena up and carried her back to her room, where he put her in bed and let her get some sleep.

He walked back to his room and sat in his leather chair that he moved by the fire. It was a prime reading spot. He sat there, thinking. He realized that he had almost lost Athena twice now. Was this girl just destined to continuously have bad luck? He felt very sorry about it. Tomorrow they were going to do something low-key. Maybe go to a street market somewhere, or just stay in the TARDIS. That would probably be safest, staying in the TARDIS. He could take her to another blank room and imagine something.

He was getting really nervous. What if he lost another companion? He couldn't handle losing another. At least not so quickly. If she went like Martha that would be one thing, but if he lost her forever that would be a whole new kind of awful. He was really starting to warm up to Athena. He liked her, a lot actually. She had a rough exterior but was definitely a very genuine, sweet, and caring person. Although he sensed that there may be problems down the road. There always were.

But he was afraid she was getting somewhat interested in him. Even though she was basically high, she had been acting somewhat sexual in the medical bay. He tried not to put any stock in it, but it was very hard to get out his mind, it excited him. 'Whoa old man…' the Doctor thought to himself, 'calm down there.' He remembered how he reacted when he saw her almost completely naked body in front of him. He had seen naked girls before but for some reason this was different. He shook his head, he couldn't allow himself to get interested in another companion, he couldn't stand another heartbreak.

He stared into the fire, trying to distract himself. He began re-hearing the screams that he heard that night and he started to cringe in fear. The TARDIS quickly extinguished the fire for him and he thanked her. He slowly got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower and then to bed.

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R&R please! more to come soon :)


	6. Pleasantries About an Awful Past

1 day early, just cause I won't have internet access tomorrow: HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DOCTOR WHO! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please R&R!

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The next morning, Athena woke up to what felt like a hangover. She looked around her room, "Doctor?" She quickly became panicked, "Doctor!"

Seconds later, the Doctor burst through her door, with his sonic screwdriver in hand. "What, what is it Athena?!" He scanned the room and realized everything was okay. "What's wrong?"

Athena apologized, "I don't know, I just got scared. Must've had a nightmare."

He put his sonic on her bookshelf, "that's okay." 'Oh Rasillon she's still topless…oh help me', "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, and yourself?"

"Fine, fine. What do you want to do today?" He looked at her like an eager puppy would look at its master, "Go back in time? Forward? A new planet? Somewhere on Earth?" He relaxed his face at his least favorite option: "Or have a chill day?"

"Actually, can we just have a chill day? I can't move my leg that well. We can't risk doing anything where we may have to run, I won't be able to keep up."

The Doctor looked at her, slightly disappointed but completely understanding. "Yeah, of course."

"What do you do around here for fun?"

"Oh…" He always travelled for fun. He had never spent much time on the TARDIS for fun. It was his home, not his playground. He swallowed and halfheartedly responded, "The library."

Athena groaned and rolled her eyes. "You said you had blank rooms, right?"

"Yeah. Why? Do you want one?"

"Can we?"

"Yeah, we can. Get dressed, I'll be waiting for you outside."

Athena slowly got out of bed and got dressed in a baggy tshirt and shorts. She put on a pair of sandals and went to meet the Doctor.

The Doctor was literally just outside of her room, she almost ran into him when she stepped through her door. He turned around, caught her from falling, and looked down at her. "So I'll follow you?" She asked, a hint of blush creeping up her cheeks.

"So you'll follow me." He took her hand and led her down the TARDIS hallways and around a corner. They were at a dead end with four doors, two on each side of the hallway. "Behind each door is a blank room. Take your pick and imagine something for us to do today."

The Doctor hoped that it would be something calm and tranquil, not some insane nightclub like Athena was probably used to.

She went to the first door on the left and opened it. The Doctor came up behind her and watched as the walls and ceiling retreated from them. Athena stepped inside and suddenly a very soft and lush deep green grass sprung up from the floor. Then multiple fruit trees and flowers came into existence. The sky was a brilliant blue with giant fluffy clouds floating above their heads. He could hear a babbling brook nearby, the sound calmed him immensely.

Athena smiled, left her shoes at the door, and walked inside. The Doctor took off his shoes and jacket and followed her into the garden. She walked over to a peach tree and picked two off and walked towards the small brook. She moved with a certain amount of elegance that the Doctor admired. Well, as much as her bandaged up leg would allow her. He followed her and laid down next to her.

She laid back as well and they stared at the clouds. She handed the other peach to the Doctor and they lay in silence and ate, letting the juice drip down their arms, the Doctor not caring that it would probably stain his shirt.

After several minutes of staring at the clouds they began naming what they looked like to them. Athena spotted several rabbit shaped clouds, a couple giraffes and a butterfly. The Doctor, on the other hand, was telling her the composite of each cloud, exactly how much water vapor, oxygen, and carbon was in each of the clouds. Athena laughed out loud, her warm laugh that made the Doctor smile and laugh along with her.

They stared up in silence for a little while longer and then the Doctor broke the silence. "I saw your tattoos last night."

"Yeah, I bet you did." She replied, feeling herself blush at the thought of the Doctor seeing her naked. She was glad the Doctor couldn't see her blush. But since he was an alien he could probably smell it or something bizarre like that.

"They're beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Especially this one." He touched her left thigh. "What is it?"

The tattoo he had touched was a large, gothic cross with a banner around it that said 'Jeremy 3-05-2005'.

She teared up a little bit. The Doctor could tell he had hit a nerve. "It's the day my brother was murdered."

"Oh…" Murdered? Poor Athena … "Were you close?"

"Yeah. Very."

The Doctor propped himself up on elbows and looked over at her. She was crying. He rolled onto his stomach and wiped her tears away. "I bet he loved you very much."

"Yeah…too much. If it weren't for me he'd still be alive."

"Don't say that."

"It's true though." She sat up and rested her arms and head on her knees, staring off into the distance rather than make eye contact with the Doctor. "He died trying to save me."

The Doctor sat up next to her. How are you supposed to comfort a crying girl? His companions had always snapped themselves out of it, he never really had to do much. It was now obvious to him that Athena had been dealt one of the worst hands of life he had ever seen. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. She responded gratefully and put her head on his shoulder.

"You know you don't have to tell me anything, Athena. You can leave it at that."

"Yeah I know." That stung the Doctor. He didn't want to pry, but he wanted to understand. "I'll tell you anyways, just give me a bit of time. I can't cry and talk very well." The Doctor squeezed her shoulders in assurance.

"My parents died in 2002. Car crash." Another wave of tears hit her and the Doctor wiped them away. "No one wanted to take us in, we were going to be wards of the government. Wards never turn out well so we ran to the streets. We lived on the streets for almost three years." Another wave of tears hit her and he wiped them away again. "We were pretty good. Always found money, did odd jobs, got lucky and found money in the street, that sort of thing. We always ate, once a day we would eat at least something. We were saving up for our own apartment." She smiled and laughed at the memory. "Around Valentine's Day in 2005 he got a job at some shop. Three weeks before he was killed. We were going to be on the streets for another month or so before he had earned enough to get rent for an apartment. I was only 14 at the time." She tensed up in his arms. "March 5th, some brutes found us. Homeless network had found out he had gotten a job. Most were very congratulatory, you know, we looked out for each other for the most part. But these three boys, about his age, maybe a bit older, Jeremy was 18, weren't so congratulatory." She had tears flowing freely down her face, but she powered through it. She felt like the Doctor needed to know. "They demanded money. He gave them £93. He didn't want to give them everything, you know? We needed it. But £93 wasn't enough. They grabbed me." She choked on her words.

The Doctor turned to face her but still held her shoulders. "You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to Athena." She nodded and started sobbing. The Doctor pulled her into his arms and rocked back and forth, trying to soothe her. "You're safe with me. You're safe in the TARDIS." She nodded into his shoulder. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He kissed the top of her head, "Never. Don't you worry."

Athena's head was swarming with her nightmares. She was usually really good at consoling herself in the middle of the night, when no one was around, but this was different. The Doctor was right in front of her. She felt so embarrassed. She withdrew from his embrace and struggled to stand up. She wiped away the last of her tears and walked out of the garden and back towards her room.

The Doctor caught up with her, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to my room. I need to lie down for a bit."

"You want me there? Or do you want to be alone?"

"Alone."

"Okay…if you need me just shout. Or tell the TARDIS, she'll tell me."

Athena nodded her acknowledgment and opened the door to her room, closing it a little bit too forcefully in his face.

The Doctor felt sorry for her. He had never met anyone who had lost both of their parents at once and their only sibling. She had been completely alone in this world for five years. That's enough to turn anyone's heart to stone. No wonder she didn't believe that he was capable of loving Rose, she didn't understand. There was so much to this girl he didn't understand. She'd tell him eventually, when the time was right she would entrust him with her secrets and stories.

The Doctor wandered into the library and picked up a book about the history of the Medusa Cascade. He knew everything about it already, but he found it fascinating all the same, much like rereading mystery books he had already read countless times.

He was about two hundred pages into the book when all of a sudden he heard the TARDIS screaming.

He jumped out of his seat, dropping the book in the process, and sprinted towards the console room. As he passed Athena's room the screaming intensified. He could feel his gut churning. He burst through the door to her bedroom and scanned the room for her. He didn't see her.

Then the TARDIS flung open her bathroom door. Athena was lying in the tub, with her wrists slashed open, covered in blood.

She had her headphones on and was listening to music. The Doctor pulled a towel off the hook near the door, tearing the hook down with it. He ran to her side and pressed the towel to her wrists.

She slowly raised her head and glared at him. "Leave me alone." She had obviously paled. How long had she been bleeding herself?

"I need to stop the bleeding!"

"I know when to stop. Leave me the hell alone." She was obviously getting weaker.

"I'm not leaving you alone, Athena. I've lost too many people. Too many fucking people. I'm not losing you." The look he gave her was one of pure terror.

"Go away." And with that her eyes rolled back and her head fell down.

"Oh no you don't!" He shouted. He moved her legs away from the faucet and turned the tub on to get the blood down the drain. Was this his fault? He had questioned her about her past and she had started crying. Did he go too far?

It was. It was all his fault.

_Calm down_. The Doctor glared at the ceiling as if he was glaring at the TARDIS. _"_Don't tell me what to do!"

The Doctor gave a panicked look at Athena. This girl was so much more than he bargained for but at the same time he didn't want her anywhere else but in the TARDIS and by his side.

After a few minutes of pressure on her wrists the bleeding stopped. He got a fresh towel and dampened it under the faucet. He wiped off her arms and hands to get rid of all the caked on blood. He smelled her blood, AB-? He licked some of the bloody water off his fingers. Yep, AB- mixed with something else…probably an iron deficiency since she was so malnourished. Of course she was the rarest blood type, everything about this girl was rare. He didn't have any AB- in the med bay. He would have to draw some out of her once she was back to normal.

He picked her up out of the tub and laid her down on the mound of pillows in the well in her room. The TARDIS turned the fire on for them. He sat and watched her breathe. He then realized he needed to get some food and water in her. He ran to the med bay and grabbed a few bandages for her wrists. Then he went to the galley. The TARDIS had read his mind; _The canvas bag on the counter._ The Doctor picked up the bag and didn't expect it to be so heavy. He ran back to Athena's room and quickly as he could.

The room was already pretty warm. He took off his jacket and shirt and threw it on her couch, and unlaced his shoes and took off his socks and threw them into the corner. Now he only had on his undershirt and trousers. He sat down besides her and bandaged her wrists. Once he finished he went to bandage the other one. When he finished he positioned himself behind her head. He laid down on his side and watched the fire while stroking her hair. He was going to stay up all night to make sure she was okay.

About an hour later, an hour and seven minutes to be exact, Athena began to stir. She woke up and looked, very dazedly, around the room. She tried to sit up but the Doctor pulled her back down.

"Lie down. You don't have any energy."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

"Don't you dare tell me how I feel."

"No, I mean you don't have any energy. I'm sure you're fine. But you're tired." He knew you weren't supposed to provoke this situation, you weren't supposed to talk about it unless the person in question wanted to talk about it.

"Right…yeah…tired." She rubbed her eyes and then noticed her bandages. "Really? Really, Doctor?"

"Just wanted to be safe, that's all."

"Bastard."

"Yep."

Athena couldn't stay mad at him. He was trying to help. She wish he hadn't, but he just wanted her safe. She knew he had lost so many people recently, people he loved too. Especially his precious Rose. She just needed to relieve some stress, she hated talking about the past.

The Doctor sat up and pulled the canvas bag into his lap, "the TARDIS figured you might want a snack."

"What's in there?"

"Who knows? Let's find out!" That stupid cheeky grin he always had that made her smile every time graced his face. Athena let a small smile escape to her lips but nothing more. He started pulling things out of the bag, "chocolate milk, graham crackers, marshmallows, gummy worms, oh look bananas! Chocolate, peanut butter, fruit punch…"

"How much stuff is in there?"

"Oh there's more. It's bigger on the inside."

"Of course it is."

"Grapes, beef jerky, chicken jerky, turkey jerky wow...cheese cubes, and bread."

"Good picnic basket you got there."

"Good picnic we got here! Hold on." He sprung to his feet and ran into the closet. He grabbed a wire hanger off the rack and paused and looked at himself in the full length mirror for a moment.

'Oh God I'm getting old.' He ran his hands over his jawline. He looked towards Athena's room. He just needed to keep her distracted, get her happy again. He'll take her to some fantastical bazaar tomorrow. No trouble, just amazement.

He walked back into her room and plopped down onto the mound of pillows. Athena had already opened the gummy worms and had drunk some of the fruit punch. He laid back onto his elbow and undid the wire hanger, curving it into a u-shape. He put two marshmallows on each end and crawled up to the fire. Athena joined him with the bag of gummy worms. They both lay on their stomachs and stared into the fire while the Doctor roasted the two marshmallows.

Athena broke the silence, "I've just been thinking about the past a lot. My past." The Doctor looked at her, taking his eyes off the marshmallows. "It hurts."

The Doctor tried to swallow a lump that was growing in his throat. He knew everyone had problems and sad pasts, but there were happy moments too. But the more he learned about Athena, the more it seemed like there weren't any happy moments. He was about to respond, something sweet to make her smile, but the marshmallows burst into flames and distracted him.

The two of them quickly blew out the fire and then looked at each other. Athena's once somber eyes were filled with mirth and they both started laughing. Athena took a few gummy worms and shoved them into the Doctor's mouth, which started another fit of giggles. He had to force himself to swallow, he was laughing too hard.

After that they stared at each other. They didn't say anything, just looked at one another. The Doctor watched the reflection of the flames dancing on her piercings and jewelry while Athena watched the warm glow growing on the side of his face. The Doctor broke the gaze first and grabbed two more marshmallows to roast in the fire.

"Worth another try, yeah?"

"Yeah." Athena lay down next to the Doctor, who was already spread out on his stomach facing the fire. Athena watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was too enthralled with the fire to be paying much attention to her.

She kissed his cheek. His head whipped around to face her.

"What was that for?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Saving me. Saving me from London. From myself. I haven't really thanked you so thank you."

The Doctor smiled and kissed her forehead. "Any time." He smiled down at her. "Get the graham crackers! And the chocolate!" He pulled the marshmallows out of the fire and the two of them sat on the pillow mound and ate their s'mores. They spent the rest of the night eating the junk food that the TARDIS provided for them. At one point the Doctor even ran back to the galley and got a second gallon of chocolate milk and they had a contest to see who could drink the most the fastest. Of course he won, but at the cost of getting gummy worms thrown at him.

Near the end of the night Athena laid her head down on the Doctor's lap while he sat back, leaning on his hands. They watched the fire together, the Doctor sometimes stroking Athena's hair.

"The pillows aren't going to burst into flames, are they?"

"No, the TARDIS is controlling the fire."

"I like her, the TARDIS."

"Yeah, me too. She's home."

She sighed. "They figured he was lying to them."

"What?"

"Those three boys. They figured Jeremy was lying to them." She was starting to talk again.

"Oh…" was all he could say. He realized that he needed to shut up, let her talk. "Just tell me what you're comfortable with, you don't have to tell me everything or anything even." He ran his hand through her hair again and sat back and watched her.

"They hit him a few times. Knocked him down, kicked him. All the while, one of them had a hold on me. I couldn't help. Well what could a 14 year old do, right? But still…I couldn't help." Her breath got a little shaky. She slowed down for a moment and then started again, "They wanted him to give them more. They threatened him. He didn't back down. They threatened me. They saw that he was willing to do anything to protect me. To die to protect me. Poor Jeremy. So two of them held him back."

He could feel her start to shake. He put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed her arm. "Athena, you can stop. It's okay."

"No, if I'm going to be staying with you for a while you need to know. You need to know everything. Why I don't trust people easily, why I act like I do. You need to know."

After a moment of silence the Doctor replied, "Take your time."

A minute and eighteen seconds later, Athena started up again. "The one who had grabbed me, probably the smallest one of the three but still a lot bigger than me, pushed me up against the wall and stabbed me. Just once. I still have a scar on my stomach." The Doctor rubbed her arm again. "I was only 14, I didn't completely understand what had happened. I remember it, but luckily enough for me I remember it as a naïve 14 year old with no real schooling, no lessons. But I learned, when I woke up in the hospital, he had raped me. Apparently there was DNA from three different people. They had all had their go." The Doctor clutched Athena's shoulder both for comfort and as protection. He was furious. For the second time in being with her, he wanted to rip someone to shreds. "Even at 14 I knew that sex was for love. But not for me it seemed. Ever since it hasn't been, there hasn't been any love since." The Doctor felt her tears through his slacks. "Then they stabbed him. Four times. They took everything off him, the money he didn't give them, the watch our dad had given him, everything. After the three ran off he looked at me, with tears in his eyes. I saw him die. I saw the light leave his eyes. Then I felt darkness and coldness approaching me. I thought I was going to die too. But like I said, I woke up in a hospital. Someone had paid for my bill, whomever called the ambulance for me I suspect. Or took me, I don't know. But then I was cast back onto the streets with nothing." She pressed herself up to the Doctor's abdomen and held his hand. "That's going to have to be for another time though, that story."

The Doctor stroked her hair again, "Of course Athena. Of course." He kissed her hand. He let her fall asleep on his lap, he didn't move all night, he just stared at the fire, digesting everything she just told him.


	7. Athena's First Planet

Sorry it's been so long! Enjoy this chapter and please R&R!

* * *

The next morning, Athena awoke in the Doctor's lap.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." The Doctor did his best to suppress a laugh.

"Did you stay up all night?"

"Yeah."

"Just sitting there?"

"Yeah." Athena stared up at him, incredulously. "I looked at your tattoos. I can see most of them."

"Oh yeah?" She let out a small smile. "See any more you like?"

"I like the feather on your foot."

"Yeah. I don't like that one very much."

That was confusing. What was with this girl? "Then why not get it removed?"

"No it's beautiful, but its another 'in memory' one."

"I'm sorry." What else could he say? Athena had had the worst dealt to her.

"My friend, her stage name was Feather. I don't know her real name. We all called each other by our stage names, actually. Safety reasons, you know?" Her gaze darkened. "Our boss had her killed, she refused part of the contract. I saw it happen too. That's what the skull near my shoulder blade is for. He had someone bash her head in."

The Doctor gulped. He found himself tracing his finger along a tattoo on her arm that read 'love yourself' in cursive. "Yeah, I do need to love myself." She sighed and then smiled, trying to hold back the tears forming in her eyes. "One day maybe. And maybe one day you will too. Not me, yourself." She pushed herself off the Doctor and sat up, facing him. His eyes were expressionless. She hoped he hadn't offended him.

"One day, maybe." He let out a small sigh and stood up. He extended his hand towards Athena, "You ready to go?"

She grabbed it and pulled herself up. "To go where?"

"There's this one planet I want to take you to. I think you'll like it."

"What's it called?"

"Odelf. It's a relatively small planet in the Crostipan Galaxy. Other side of the universe. It'll take some time to get there so get dressed and take it easy. Or take it easy and get dressed, your preference."

Athena nodded. A smile started to grow on her face. The Doctor loved seeing her smile. "Can't wait! I'll get dressed then. I know you've seen it all but…"

"Right, I'll go. I'll come get you when we've landed."

Athena nodded and watched the Doctor leave. He smiled at her right before he closed the door and she returned the smile. The smile stayed on her lips even after the Doctor had shut the door. For the first time that she could remember, she was happy. Truly happy. Then she looked down at her hands, she was trembling. This wasn't what she needed right now. She reached into her backpack's hidden pocket again. She heard the TARDIS hum in disapproval. "Please don't tell." The TARDIS stopped making noises, she figured she would get away with it. She prepared the powder with her lighter and loaded up a new syringe. She tied off her vein and injected the drug into her system. She laid back on her bed until she calmed down. The TARDIS disposed the syringe for her. Athena opened up her backpack's hidden pocket again, she only had enough for one more hit. She needed to stop. She was going to stop cold turkey. She had to. If the Doctor had been able to get her off her smoking habit in a couple days then he could do the same with her heroin habit. She laid back down and let the room spin around her.

After a couple hours she felt herself return to quasi-normal. She grabbed _Frankenstein_ off of her bookshelf, curled up on her couch, and started reading.

She was almost finished with the book when the Doctor knocked on her door. How long had it taken them? "Hold on! Tying my shoes!" She could hear the Doctor laughing on the other side of the door. "Well hurry up! The market is about to close! Got here later than I meant…"

She opened the door and smiled. "What kind of market? Like a farmer's market?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Something seemed a little off about her. Maybe she was just tired since she was still recovering. But she smelled a little bit different. Maybe it was all the junk food in her system…yeah, that was probably it.

"You flew me across the universe for a farmer's market? Well there are a few things the galley needs."

"Different foods, Athena. I flew you all the way across the universe for different foods." Athena smiled. "Humans…you're so strange." The Doctor sighed.

"Is that why you kidnap us? Entertainment?"

"You voluntarily come with me."

"I didn't." She was right, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He hadn't given her an option. He dragged her onto the TARDIS. "True…but there was no way I was going to let you live on the streets." He admitted. The sadness he was trying to hold back reached his face and Athena noticed.

"I appreciate you kidnapping me." She smiled to reassure him. "I'm glad you did. My life was shit. Still is, once you drop me back. But that's worry for another day, yeah?"

"Don't go." His eyes widened and he blushed, he didn't mean to say that out loud.

Athena blushed in response. "I don't have to. Unless you kick me out." The Doctor stared at her, not saying anything. "I know you're lonely," she started, "Lonely people know when others are lonely." He directed his gaze down towards the floor, still not responding. "I won't leave until you're sick of me." He nodded without looking at her. He felt so vulnerable, but he had a feeling she knew exactly how he felt. She rubbed his arm and his head shot back up, "Right!" He was back to his chipper self, "Odelf!"

The two of them stepped out of the TARDIS, the Doctor walked off and Athena was left, gazing at the new planet. This was her first new planet. There were cobbled stone streets and neutral colored buildings, greys and browns and tans mostly. It looked a lot like any old European city. But the grass was a teal color and the trees had black bark with purple leaves. The sky was a light red color with yellow tinted clouds and there was a warm breeze in the air that smelled slightly of roasting nuts. She looked after the Doctor, who was already walking towards the market. People surrounded him, well, creatures and only the tall ones went up to about his shoulder. They had bright, lime green skin with orange stripes and swirls and piercing blue eyes. They wore very bright colors as well, making them stick out from the buildings.

"Athena?" The Doctor had stopped making his way towards the market and turned back around. He had been talking about the planet's history and then realized that she wasn't making any snide remarks. He saw Athena, standing by the TARDIS. 'Oh I hope she's not scared…' he walked back towards her and lowered himself to her eye level, "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just, my first new planet. It's exciting."

"Oh, right." He straightened up and smelled the air. "I think we got here in the spring. Oh, they have some lovely fruits in the spring." He offered her his hand, which she gladly took. "Nice relaxing day for you. You can't really run with that leg of your's. But a bit of stretching and exercise is good for you." She laughed. "So, Doctor, what's here at this market?"

"Oh, the typical. You have the fruits and vegetables that you find, or counterparts, that you find on most planets like apples and lettuce and carrots. But in the Crostipan Galaxy there are a hundred more different fruits and vegetables. I'm not a big veggie person but fruits, oh Athena, fruits are amazing! And here, I always come here when I'm running out. My favorite cuisine is actually Earth's so the TARDIS keeps the galley stocked with that and I'm responsible for getting stuff that isn't from Earth. So I'm at this market pretty often. I actually have a list." He pulled a notepad out of his pocket and Athena glanced at it. She didn't recognize a single word on the list, but what did she expect? "Come with me!" The Doctor pulled a canvas bag out of his pocket and Athena promptly took it from him. "You lead us and do the talking, I'll carry the goods. Nice trade off, yeah?" The Doctor winked at her and led them to a nearby stall.

The table was covered in what she guessed were different fruits and vegetables. There was something that looked like blue lemons and some orange beets maybe and then regular looking lettuce. She was very confused. The Doctor was talking to the vendor and Athena started looking around and stopped paying attention. "Open the bag." Athena snapped out of her haze and looked at the Doctor. He had a bag full of the blue looking lemons. He took one out and cut it in half with a pocket knife he pulled from his pockets. He took a bite, "come on, open the bag." Athena obliged and the Doctor laughed at her. He handed her the other half, "go on, try it." He continued to eat his half and Athena just stared at the alien fruit. "What is it?"

"A rutigal."

"That doesn't help."

"Just try it." He was trying very hard to keep from cracking up. She bit into it and it tasted like cinnamon and lemons. "That's weird, this is weird. This is a weird thing."

The Doctor's smile lessened a little bit, "you don't like it?"

"It's fine. Just weird." She smiled and took another bite. "Different. New."

The Doctor's smile widened again and he hooked his arm with her's and led them to a few more stalls. The bag was soon filled with very colorful fruits that were giving off a rather pleasing aroma.

"Just one more." The Doctor led Athena to a stall that was run by a couple. Half of the table had fruits and the other half had jewelry and trinkets. The Doctor was looking at some dark red things that looked somewhat like a cross between eggplants and pumpkins and Athena was looking at the carved trinkets. There was one that looked like a wolf, but instead it had three tails and six legs. It was a pale green stone with gold flecks and it had one red eye and one blue eye. The Doctor was just about to finalize his purchase when he saw Athena. "And that xylein figurine she's looking at. I'll take that too." The Doctor handed over the money and walked around the table to Athena. He picked up the figurine and handed it to her, "come on, let's go." Athena moved to put it back down. "No, it's for you." She smiled, "Doctor, you didn't have to."  
"I know. But you liked it. You need to start your souvenir collection with me. And also…" he pulled her camera out of his pocket. "work on your photo album." He raised his eyebrow and she smiled in response. The Doctor took the bag from her and handed her the camera. She turned around and took a picture of the market stalls, the trees, the clouds in the sky, anything that she wanted to make sure she could remember forever. She even took a few of the Doctor while he was eating some of the bizarre fruits they had just bought.

"Quick, I want you to see something." The Doctor made his way back to the TARDIS with Athena following. He opened the door and set the bag down just inside, and turned back to Athena with a big smile. He took the figurine out of Athena's hand, "this is called a xylein. Six legs, pale green fur with streaks of gold running through it, like highlights almost. One red eye and one blue eye, said to be hypnotic. They're very revered here only because they're very dangerous. Like a vengeful god almost. They come through villages and towns like this and destroy everything and anything left on the streets, killing anyone too. Little towns will shut down when the pack comes through, as a safety precaution. But they're absolutely amazing to watch, if you're a safe distance enough away. So what do you say?"

"What do I say to what?"

"Want to go find the pack? This time of year, they should be close. I heard someone saying today was the last day."

Athena stared at him in disbelief. He kept on smiling and he wiggled his eyebrows. "Oh come on Athena." Athena laughed and nodded her head. The Doctor beamed and took her by the hand and started running. Athena yanked him back to her, "Bandaged up the side, remember?" The Doctor blushed a bit from embarrassment and the two of them continued at a much slower pace. "All we need to do is go back through town and on the other side there is a cliff where we can look over the Oskelic tul Labotula, which translates as the Valley of Clouds."

After about an hour of walking, and frequent breaks so Athena could rest her leg, they finally reached the overlooking cliff. Valley of Clouds was quite accurate. The floor of the valley was covered in the same yellow-tinted clouds that dotted the sky, making the teal grass look like an ocean on a foggy day, well, if the fog was yellow.

"This is so amazing." Athena sighed, out of breath from the journey. She took a couple of pictures and turned to the Doctor. "One question." He nodded. "Why was everyone speaking English? They're aliens."

He laughed, "You're the alien. They aren't speaking English. They were speaking Eastern Odelf. The TARDIS translates every language for you."

"Oh every language! I thought it was just Earth languages."

"Nope. Every language. Except Gallifreyan."

"What's Gallifreyan?"

"It's the language I speak."

"But I can understand you."

"Well I speak every language. I know English, so I'm not speaking Gallifreyan right now."

"Where are you from?"

"Gallifrey."

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. "You sound sad."

"It's gone." He sniffed, "that's why I travel."

"I'm sorry." The Doctor exhaled sharply, "it's okay! Keep going." He smiled down at her. "There was a war. The Time Lords and the Daleks. Gallifrey was lost in the battles. It burned. Long story. I'll tell you one day."

"You're a Time Lord, yeah? That's what you said, back in London."

"Yeah…Time Lord. Last of the Time Lords."

"Very poetic."

"I guess." His face hardened and he turned away and looked back towards the valley, "Oh, Athena, look!" He pointed down into the valley. The clouds were clearing and she could see the pack running through the valley. "How many are there?" She wondered aloud.

"About three hundred, give or take." The gold in their fur caught the sun and shone back, accentuating their movements. "They'll reach the village by nightfall probably."

"Do we need to warn them?"

The Doctor smiled at her. She had a good heart. "Nah, their news channel reports about the location of the xylein pack every fifteen minutes. Sort of like you humans and the weather report."

Athena took a couple of pictures as the pack ran by.

"Wait a minute." The Doctor stared down into the valley. The pack had changed course and were going up an extremely steep slope about two hundred meters from them. "They're supposed to run to the end of the valley."

"What do you mean?"

"They're taking a short cut!" The Doctor grabbed Athena's hand and started running. Athena let out a grunt from the pain, "I'm sorry Athena, but you need to run!" They ran as fast as Athena's leg would let them.

They reached a small grove of trees. The Doctor stared back from where they came and saw a cloud of dust growing quickly. The Doctor looked around for a solution, looking extremely frazzled.

"Doctor?" The Doctor spun around and faced Athena, panic written on his face. She pointed up the tree they were standing under, "can they climb?"

The Doctor grinned, "no they can't! Brilliant! Come on, you first!" Athena struggled to climb up the tree. The Doctor pushed her up until she was a couple of branches high. The Doctor nimbly jumped up and climbed to catch up with Athena. The two of them continued climbing until they were near the top of the tree, about thirty feet above the ground.

The pack was under the tree in a matter of seconds. They looked down and laughed at how they narrowly escaped getting ripped apart. Although they stopped laughing once a few of the xylein pawed at the tree, trying to climb up. Both the Doctor and Athena held their breath.


	8. An Old Friend

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! Enjoy the chapter, R&R please :)

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The xyleins at the base of the tree gave up after a minute or so. The two of them let out a breathless laugh. The pack continued to run by. "Do you think the village will be okay? The pack will be there soon!"

"Yeah they'll be fine, I'm sure. Like I said, updates every fifteen minutes. And on market days the streets are usually completely empty when the market closes. Sort of like a holiday." The Doctor leaned against the trunk of the tree. "We should probably stay up here tonight, just to be safe, make sure the pack has moved on before we get back to the TARDIS. They usually stay in villages overnight. They should be gone by morning."

Athena could still see the cliff that descending into the valley. She looked out and watched the clouds.

"Now's probably as good of a time as ever to tell you about the Time War." The Doctor started. Athena shifted her attention to him. He had a solemn expression on his face. "The two races, the Time Lords of Gallifrey and the Daleks of Skarro went to war for the whole of creation. So many people died. So many. Like any war there were major battles. Each of these battles hardened both sides. Well, the Time Lords more than the Daleks. The Daleks were created to hate anything that wasn't Dalek. They wanted to destroy everything. They're all gone too. Well, I keep thinking so. They always survive somehow." A look of terror spread across the Doctor's face. Athena reached out and rubbed his arm and smiled. The Doctor's expression lightened slightly and he continued, "The war turned into hell. The Time Lords worked out a plan to destroy themselves and all of time with it. I had to stop them." He had a few tears falling down his face. "I killed the Time Lords. All of them. My own people. Locked them in time." Athena wiped the tears off his cheek. He gave a small smile of thanks. "You did all you could though, Doctor. You saved the universe." The Doctor nodded, "I try to tell myself that. But it's hard." Athena moved closer to him, "we both have sad pasts then." She gave him a hug, which he did not return. He sat in silence, staring into space. After a minute she pulled away and turned her attention to the sky, giving the Doctor time to himself. The Doctor moved to another branch instead of sitting next to Athena, he needed to be alone for a little while.

After a couple of hours she watched the sun sink below the horizon and the sky began to darken.

"How are we going to sleep? In shifts?"

"I don't sleep often. Every few days. I can go another night without sleep." The Doctor turned to face Athena, who was still sitting on the branch next to his branch. "I'll make sure you don't fall."

Athena laughed, "How are you doing to do that, hmm?"

The Doctor nimbly climbed back over to her branch and maneuvered himself behind her, with his back against the tree. He shifted her leg over the branch so she had one leg on either side and then wrapped his arms around her waist. "Like this." Athena laughed. Her camera was around her neck and she took a picture of the two of them. "You and that damn camera." He grumbled.

"You don't have any pictures in the TARDIS, you need some. That will forever be my argument." She retorted, mocking offense.

He snorted in response and leaned his head back. "Get some sleep Athena. You need to recover." It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. The Doctor spent the night staring at the stars and enjoying, for the second night in a row, having someone rest on him. A sensation he hadn't felt since Rose had traveled with him.

Athena woke up with the sunrise. The Doctor decided it was safe for them to get down and back to the TARDIS. After some maneuvering, due to Athena's stiff leg, they climbed down and started walking back.

They reached the little village and both were taken aback by how it looked. Baskets were ripped to shreds, some of the cobblestone pavement had come loose, and the trees all had scratch marks. They made their way through the debris and saw a group of Odelvians cleaning up. The Doctor started to walk past them when Athena stopped to help a smaller Odelvian carry a heavy load.

"Athena, come on. Time to go."

"We can't just leave. Come help."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and walked over to her. He was hiding the smile that was threatening to spread across his face. She had one of the biggest hearts he had ever seen. Despite her not being able to sufficiently walk, she was still helping clean up. He got to her side and began helping clean the debris as well.

They helped cleaned the streets all day but it still looked a mess. They got back to the TARDIS, which luckily enough was unscathed, went inside, and climbed onto the jumpseat, exhausted from their day's work.

Athena was the first to break the silence. "So! Where to next?"

"Cardiff."

"Awesome!"

The Doctor looked at her, utterly baffled. "You're excited about Cardiff? It's what, two hours from London?"

"I've never been! It's exciting." She beamed and started kicking her legs. "Everything's an adventure."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Have to refuel. It'll be twenty four hours and then we'll be off again."

"Twenty four hours to explore Cardiff?"

"Yeah. And relax in the TARDIS."

"Sounds wonderful!" The Doctor set the coordinates for the Cardiff Rift and sent the TARDIS off into the time vortex. "It'll take us all night to get there. So you better get some sleep."

"Yeah will do. You too, Doctor." Athena walked down the hallway towards her room. She could already begin to feel herself shaking again.

The next morning, the Doctor made tea for both him and Athena. She came into the galley, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning. She sat down and took the cup the Doctor offered her. She had just woken up and she was already beginning to shake. Even though tea is supposed to be calming, it wasn't doing her any good.

"So," The Doctor started, "I figured we could take your bandages off now."

"It's only been a couple days. Burns take weeks to heal."

"I sped up the healing process, they should be fine now. It's a neat little trick of the TARDIS's."

"Oh…neat." Athena and the Doctor sat in silence as they finished their tea. The Doctor took both of the cups and put them in the sink. He held his hand out for Athena, "come on." Athena took his hand, stood up, and followed him to the med bay.

The Doctor picked Athena up by the waist and put her on the examination table. Then, he pulled a scanner over from the wall and let it hover above her leg. He walked over to a computer and looked at the data for several minutes. Everything seemed fine to him. He began searching through his drawers for a pair of surgical shears. He put them in the sterilizer and then moved back to Athena.

"We need to take your shorts off."

"Yeah…" Athena shimmied out of her shorts and laid them behind her. "Anything else?"

The Doctor gulped and admired her for a second, "Nope, that should be fine."

The sterilizer beeped, signaling the shears were clean. He got them and moved towards Athena. He started to cut the bandages from her ankle up to her knee. He cut around her knee and took the bandages off and threw them away. He then cut from her knee to the bottom seam of her panties, and then he ripped those away and disposed of them too. Athena lifted up her shirt so the Doctor could cut away the last few inches of bandaging, leaving Athena's skin completely bare. She looked down her leg and noticed only minor scarring. "Impressive, Doctor." The Doctor nodded and put the shears back in the sterilizer. "You'll probably still be sore for a day or so, probably still stiff too, but you're all good now." He picked her up by the waist again and helped her stand up. He could feel her shaking in his arms, "you may have some difficulty walking too, but you should be okay to walk in a couple hours."

"Yeah…thanks. A lot." If the Doctor knew the real reason as to why she was shaking he would never forgive her. "Probably just need to sit."

"Yeah, probably. Humans…" He picked her up and carried her into the console room and set her down on the jumpseat. The Doctor began looking at a few monitors while Athena watched him.

He had fallen asleep at his desk again. He woke up to an alarm blaring through the underground office. That alarm meant only one thing.

"Jack! He's back!"

Captain Jack Harkness bolted up from his desk and ran over to the monitor. He let out a hearty laugh and ran to grab his keys. "Ianto, I'll be back soon! Not every day you get to see the Doctor!" Jack ran out of the Torchwood office and up onto the Cardiff streets. He made his way across the plaza to the Cardiff Rift. He quickened his pace until he was running. He reached the doors of the TARDIS and began banging on them.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor was explaining the rift to Athena. "Back in the 1800s there was an alien invasion. Well, we had to cause this sort of explosion to get rid of them, right? The explosion ripped this rift wide open. It's completely harmless, however, it acts as fuel for the TARDIS. Every so often we need to refuel. Once a year or so." "Even advanced alien spaceships need fuel." Athena let out a laugh. "That's somewhat hilarious." The Doctor gave her a quizzical look and shook his head and laughed. Suddenly there was a loud banging on the outside of the TARDIS doors. "Doctor? What's that?" The Doctor ran to the monitor and looked outside. He saw Jack beaming and waving into the camera. "Oh…oh no…"

"What, what is it? Trouble?"

A American voice shouted from outside, "Oh come on Doctor, you're not gonna let me in?"

"Of sorts." The Doctor rolled his eyes and walked over the door and opened it. A man ran in and picked the Doctor up in a hug and swung him around. "I've missed you!"

"Put me down!" The Doctor shouted, trying to squirm out of the American's grasp.

The man obliged and was smiling too much for Athena's liking. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, all things considered." The Doctor's mood had darkened almost as soon as this new man stepped into the TARDIS.

"How's everyone?" The Doctor gave him a solemn and angry look. "That bad. And your twin?"

"Gone. Pete's World."

The man nodded his head. "Good for her."

"Yeah. Good for them." The Doctor spat, turned on his heel and made his way back to the console.

Jack's gaze wandered around the TARDIS, he was excited to see this old ship again. Then his eyes fell on a girl sitting on the jumpseat. "Oh hello there." He made his way over the seat and leaned on his elbow next to her. "Captain Jack Harkness. And who might you be?" Athena stole a glance at the Doctor who had opened his mouth and rather dramatically rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Jack, she just got on board, don't scare her off. I like her, she's fun."

"I can never say hello to anyone around you."

"That's not hello. That's flirting." Athena scoffed and Jack look offended. "And she can see right through you too." He gave Athena a proud smile.

Jack studied Athena for a moment. "Oh…oh Doctor that's new for you." The Doctor glared at him. He looked back at Athena then back at the Doctor. "You picked up an escort." Athena turned bright red.

"Athena, he didn't mean it. He's just thick." The Doctor hit Jack in the back of the head. "Apologize. Now!"

"It's true though." The Doctor gaped at her. "That was the other part of the story. You're good Jack." Athena looked sad, mortified would be a better word. Jack tried to add some levity to the situation, "if it makes you feel any better, I was too for a while." Athena laughed, "it's no big deal. Life, you know?"

Jack rolled his eyes, "tell me about it."

Athena nodded and got off the jumpseat. "My room's a mess so…I'll see you guys later." She walked towards the TARDIS hallway and towards her room. The Doctor started to follow her. "Doctor, give her a break."

The Doctor turned around and faced Jack with his best Oncoming Storm glare, "you don't understand. Last time her past was brought up she…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

"I know. It's written all over her wrists. You need to give her time, Doctor. Let me talk to her." He moved towards the hallways. "You've done enough damage, Jack." The Doctor shoved Jack back and away from the hallway. "I know you didn't mean it. You don't think much, Jack."

Jack laughed and nodded, "that's me. All action, no thinking. You're the brains." The Doctor glared at him once more and made his way down the hallway towards Athena.

Athena was crying in her room. 'That Captain Jack Harkness…would does he think he is? Come waltzing in here, acting like he owns the place, dispelling everyone's secrets,' that had been one secret she wanted to keep from the Doctor. He was probably going to throw her out now. She looked around her room. She didn't want to leave, she was having so much fun, even though she was usually running for her life or getting badly hurt. She was still having fun. She and the Doctor had become fast friends but that was probably only because they both needed a friend. She already knew she was replaceable to him, he had already had three companions before her. She sat on her bed and looked through her pictures of their adventures so far. She couldn't get any in Russia because cameras hadn't been modernized yet, but she had the beach, the market, the valley, and a few of them in the TARDIS.

"Hey, TARDIS, can you show me where I can print these pictures? I want to give them to him."

_Follow me._ Athena left her room and felt compelled to go down the hallway and take a right. She figured the TARDIS had probably entered her mind somehow and was walking for her. She got to a door and felt herself regain control. She went in to a computer room and started uploading the pictures to the computer. She figured the Doctor wouldn't want to remember her, so she printed out all the ones of him and of the places they've gone, ignoring any with her in them.

She collected the pictures from the printer and walked back to her room. She pulled her backpack out from under her bed, went to the closet to grab what was her's, then unceremoniously threw it into her bag. All she had left to pack were her stuffed dog and bear. She picked them both up and hugged them to her chest. She was fighting back tears. She'd ask the Doctor if he could drop her off somewhere that wasn't London, she needed a new start. She'd stay in Cardiff, but Jack was here.

The TARDIS emitted a low hum from the closet. Athena followed her and saw a bag that was stuffed with clothing. The TARDIS must've known she didn't have much. Athena stroked the wall appreciatively, picked up the bag and put it on her bed. Athena felt a source of sadness she figured was coming from the TARDIS, maybe she didn't want her to leave her and the Doctor. At least the ship was on her side.

Someone knocked on her door. She went to open it. She hoped it was Jack, then she could punch him right across that pretty face of his.

She opened the door and saw the Doctor staring down at her. She moved away from the door and allowed him to come in. He stopped and stared at her backpack and the totebag next to it. "The TARDIS gave me those, I swear." The Doctor nodded, "She's a kind ship. She's just looking out for you."

She moved around him and grabbed the pictures she had printed off her bed. "Here you go," she handed them to him, "decorate the walls." The Doctor thumbed through the pictures, "there aren't any of you in here."

"Why would you want to remember me? I'm an embarrassment."

He gestured towards the backpack, "you going somewhere?"

"Yeah. Home."

"Why?"

"Why would you want me here anymore?"

"Because of what Jack said? Athena, I don't care. We've all done things we aren't proud of."

"Yeah but—"

"No buts. I'm not throwing you out." He set the pictures on the bookshelf. "I came here to check on you."

"Oh…" Athena felt her cheeks flush. "Sorry."

"Oh don't apologize." He gestured to the bed, "May I?"

She smiled, "You may." The Doctor sat down and picked up Athena's stuffed dog. He imitated a silly, childish voice, "Please don't make us leave, Athena! We like travelling with the handsome and brilliant Doctor!" Athena laughed and snatched the dog away from him. He giggled like a schoolboy and pulled Athena onto his lap.

"You're so humble, Doctor."

"Oh come on, you know it's true." Athena couldn't disagree with him. He was brilliant. And he was quite handsome. So she just stuck her tongue out at him. The Doctor pulled them down onto the bed so that they were laying next to each other. "Don't go. Please don't."

"Okay, I won't." He smiled and took her hand in his. "Jack's an old friend. He thinks with his cock, if you haven't noticed."

"Yeah, yeah I noticed." Athena sighed, "I've met a lot of guys like him."

"Yeah…" The Doctor stared up at the ceiling. He had no room to judge. He massacred entire species, why should he judge her? She definitely wasn't judging him. She was just enjoying her time.

"That was the part of the contract Feather ignored. It was a way to bring in more customers. That's when I got the money for the camera. So I got something good out of it all, yeah?" She smiled a little bit.

"And you're an amazing photographer."

"Yeah, only cause I was amazing in bed." She felt the Doctor tense up at that last statement. She laughed to herself, "but those days are behind me so everything is fine."

The Doctor swallowed. The last thing he needed was another companion who was attracted to him, especially since he was unsure about his feelings towards her. But the two of them got along so well, they both had such sad pasts. They seemed to bond based on that alone. Misery wants company. They needed each other, it seemed. The Doctor responded as best he could without wavering his voice, "Yeah, well, I know about the amazing photographer aspect from experience so…"

Athena burst out laughing. She was glad the Doctor had a sense of humor. The Doctor left her side and began unpacking her things. He slid her backpack underneath the bed and jumped back up, holding out his hand. "Come on, Jack's cooking us lunch as an apology."

Athena and the Doctor walked hand in hand into the galley. He had only left Jack alone for ten minutes to make sandwiches and the room was an outright mess.

"How did you even manage to do this?" The Doctor exclaimed as soon as he and Athena walked into the galley.

"Do what?" Jack looked around completely baffled.

"Is this what your Torchwood does? Shows up and make a mess out of everything?"

"Hey now! I'll have you know that we solve hundreds of cases a year!"

The Doctor snorted and led Athena to the table.

"What's Torchwood?"

Jack responded, "It's a secret agency bent on hunting down violent aliens and playing host to friendly aliens. We develop technology to help the British government fight against the violent ones."

Athena nodded, she wasn't one for politics. Frankly, she didn't want to hear his voice anymore, she had hoped that the Doctor would've answered her question.

Jack bounded over with three plates and laid them all out on the table. "Enjoy the food!" The Doctor eyed it cautiously and sniffed it. "Okay Doctor, it's not going to be that bad. I'm still alive!"

"Yeah that doesn't mean much." Jack let out a hearty laugh and Athena felt left out of the joke. She ate her sandwich in silence.

"If I regenerate, Jack, it's your fault."

"Oh stop being so dramatic." The Doctor cautiously took a bite and swallowed. "See? You're fine."

When the three of them finished eating Jack cleared the plates and the Doctor went to the console room to see how the TARDIS was doing.

"You know I didn't mean to cause trouble, right?" Jack started.

"Yeah…just wish you hadn't said anything, that's all." Athena spat back.

"The Doctor has a way of making people talk. Do you really think you would've been able to keep that secret for so long?"

Athena thought for a moment. He was right. "I was planning on telling him." She lied, "just on my own terms." Jack nodded. "And what terms would those have been?"

"When I had come to terms with it."

"So it wasn't a choice?"

"No, not exactly. When you're homeless you'll do anything for money."

"What else have you done?"

"Yeah, like I'd tell you." Athena took a very defensive stance. Jack observed her for a moment. She was twitching, no, shaking. The more he noticed the more it looked like she was shaking. "You're starting to go through withdrawal."

"No I'm not."

"Athena, withdrawal from what?"

"Like I'd tell you."

"I need to know. The Doctor needs to know."

"Bullshit, no he doesn't."

"Tell me."

"Stop it."

Jack looked at her and sighed. "You didn't just deal, you used."

"Anything to survive."

"But drugs ruin and kill."

"They also help you forget what you don't want to remember."

Jack regarded her, knowing she was right. After a pause he changed the subject, "How long have you been with the Doctor?"

"A couple of weeks maybe. I'm not really sure. Maybe more. Hard to tell."

"Yeah it is hard to tell…" Jack needed to find a way to help her. He saw the way the Doctor looked at her, how they held hands and how he stroked Athena's hand like he did Rose. He needed to find a way to make sure she stayed on board. "How long since you've had anything?"

"A couple days ago. He doesn't know."

"Judging by the way you're looking now, you have just hours left before you go on full blown withdrawal. You need to either find a way to cope or get another hit. But you need to be very secretive about it. The Doctor hates drugs. He will throw you out. No matter how much he loves you." Athena glared back at him. "He doesn't love me. He loves Rose."

"Rose is gone and she's never coming back. The Doctor doesn't realize it yet, but he loves you. He acts the exact same around you as he did Rose." Athena glared at him so Jack continued, "I'm also a time traveller. Whenever the Doctor says he can and can't interfere – even though its hereditary for him – after travelling with him I started picking up on those senses. It's going to happen one day. He'll realize he needs you. You can tell by the way he looks at you. He may not love you, I'm not great on that subject, but he'll always need you. You're the same person, relatively."

Suddenly they heard the Doctor's footsteps coming down the hallway. Both Athena and Jack arranged themselves so they looked more casual. Jack took to cleaning the counter while Athena was sitting with her legs bouncing up and down out of nerves and withdrawal.

"You two getting along?" Neither of them responded, just looked at him. "Uh huh…okay."

"Doctor, I came here for two reasons. The first being the obvious, I wanted to see you and make sure you were okay." Jack swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat, "I noticed Donna wasn't here."

"Time Lord consciousness was killing her. Had to remove it."

"So she doesn't remember a thing, does she?"

"Nope. Not a thing." Jack strode over and put his hand on the Doctor's shoulder out of sympathy. "I'm sorry Doctor." The Doctor sniffed, "It's fine." He nodded, straightened his tie, and repeated, "It's fine."

Jack sighed and started up again, "and two, we're having a bit of a problem at Torchwood."

"What sort of problem?" The Doctor asked, somewhat anxious.

"You'll have to come with me to headquarters." The Doctor took a deep breath, looked over at Athena, then nodded.


	9. Withdrawal

R&R please!

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Jack led both the Doctor and Athena out of the TARDIS, across the plaza, and back to the Torchwood Tower, where they all stood on the platform that brought them underground and into the main office.

"We found this trio of aliens. No idea where they are from, what they are speaking, absolutely nothing. We were hoping you could speak to them for us, figure out who they are, their intentions, all that."

"What do they look like?"

"They are all relatively tall. About half a foot taller than me I'd say. Two have bluish-green skin. One is bright yellow. All have these dark red eyes. They seem to be somewhat violent, but they may just be scared."

Jack led them downstairs. He unlocked a heavy metal door and walked into an observation room. One of the walls was made of glass. On the other side, the three bug-like aliens were sitting at a table, talking with one another. Athena couldn't hear anything. Jack sat down at the controls and turned on the speakers and the microphone. He spoke into the microphone.

"I have someone here to talk to you. He'll understand what you're saying." The trio looked towards the glass and all three walked up to the glass and stared at them.

The Doctor sat down at the desk and pushed the button that turned the microphone one, "Hello there I'm the Doctor. Whom am I speaking to?" Athena could understand them just fine, but Jack had no idea what was going on. She was secretly very proud of this.

"The three of us are official representatives of the planet Loxikap. Our ship crashed here on our return home." One of the blue ones spoke. He had a silver star pendant on his chest, which probably meant he was the leader.

"Oh, so you're Lorians, yes?"

"Yes." The leader responded.  
The Doctor took his finger off the microphone button and turned to Jack and Athena, "Lorians are an interesting species. Very advanced. The yellow one is a female, the bluish ones are male. They're interesting because they're devolving. They started as an extremely high and mighty society and now it's, what? 2009? Lorians came into being, oh, 30,000 BCE Earth time. Right now they are at the stage you humans would put Neanderthals, probably a bit more advanced than that. Almost civilized, but not quite. This is probably going to be their last government. The attacks, Jack, are primal urges that are starting to come through. That and they're scared, which is triggering the urges even more. But as they devolve they become more and more violent. It's a good thing they didn't come a thousand or so years from now, then we'd be in trouble because they get militant, acting solely on urges. But we should be fine as they are now."

The Doctor turned away from the two and back to the Lorians, "so you only want to go home?"

"Yes. Just back home. That's all we want." The yellow one said.  
"May I ask where you are coming from?" The Doctor asked.

"Your solar system's Jupiter's moon Io." The other blue one responded.

"Io? Why Io?"

"We were on a sulfur harvest. Io has one of the greatest reserves in the universes." The captain answered.

"We can take you back to Loxikap, if you would like."

"Oh, Doctor, that would be wonderful!" The yellow one said, ecstatic.

The Doctor took his finger off the button and turned to Jack. "I can take them. No harm done. That work?"

"Of course Doctor."

"You want to come with?"

"Oh you know I want to, but I can't. Too much work to do here. Still cleaning up the Dalek mess."

"Right…"

"I'll get the keys." Jack walked out of the office, leaving the Doctor and Athena.

"So what now?" Athena asked.

"We take them home. Drop them off, maybe wander around the planet a bit, then off we go."

"A new planet!" Despite her anxiety from her impeding withdrawal, Athena was extremely excited at the prospect of seeing another planet. Everything was an adventure to her, "What's it like?"

"Loxikap…a lot of forests. It's mostly all forests, actually. Very little water, very cold. They use sulfur for fuel and because of the pollution it causes their trees aren't like your trees, they're much stronger and durable so they grow much higher. Most of the planet is very dark because the trees block out lots of sunlight."

"That sounds so mystical."

"It means we only get a few hours where we can actually walk around, because it gets dark several hours before the sun even sets." Athena laughed a little, excited to see a new planet.

Jack returned with the set of keys and let out the three Lorians. The Doctor shook hands with each of them. "What might your names be?"

The captain answered for everyone else. "I am called Kleo. My associates are Undai," he gestured to the other male Lorian, "and Zeni." He gestured to the female Lorian. "We appreciate you taking us home."

The Doctor beamed, "oh don't you worry! Not like we have anything to do! I'll go check on the TARDIS and see when we can go. Athena, wait here."

The Doctor ran out of the room. Athena was left with Jack, who was working on the release paper work. She let her gaze wander around the room, but she could see, just out of the corner of her eye, the three Lorians were staring at her. It was making her slightly uncomfortable.

She felt her hands begin to tremble involuntarily. Her legs started shaking, she felt like screaming. She was having trouble breathing. Jack was right, she was losing it. She started sweating and hyperventilating. Jack was by her side in a flash, trying to support her from falling.

"Athena, come on. Come on Athena you need to snap out of this. He'll be back soon, come on, focus."

She let out a scream and started violently shaking. She lost her ability to stand and was on the floor in a matter of seconds. She was writhing while Jack tried to control her.

"Ianto, get her some water! It's okay Athena, I've helped friends before. It's okay, I've got you." He held onto her and tried to get her to regulate her breathing again, but to no avail. He knew that Athena's time with the Doctor had just come to an end.

"What's going on?" No one had noticed that the Doctor had walked back into the room.

Zeni spoke up, "There is something wrong with the female."

He had a blank expression on his face while he observed the scene before him.

"Doctor…she'll be okay she just-"

"Jack, answer me. Honestly."

"Judging by her state –"

"Withdrawal. From what?"

"She didn't tell me."

The Doctor crouched down until he was face to face with Athena. He roughly grabbed her face and pulled it up to his. Athena saw the darkness in his eyes; his Oncoming Storm glare, his eyes were almost black. He wiped off a bit of her sweat, licked his finger, then promptly spit it out. "Heroin." He pushed her away from him, causing her to fall back onto her elbows. "You're a heroin addict."

"I've been trying to quit."

"Smoking is one thing Athena, but heroin." He looked at her, disgust written across his face.

"Doctor, there's only so much—" She began to plead, but was promptly cut off by the Doctor. "What would your brother say?" Athena stared at him. He crouched back down to her eye level. He stared at her, it felt like he was boring a hole in her soul. "He wasted his life for you." Athena screamed out. She was shaking and crying and she felt like the world was closing in around her. She thrashed out at the Doctor but Jack held his grip on her. The Doctor straightened back up, "Get rid of her Jack. I don't care. Lock her up, put her in an alley somewhere, just get rid of her. I'm going to get her things." The Doctor walked out of the room.

Jack looked at the girl in his arms, she was sobbing uncontrollably. "Come on Athena." He picked her up and led her to the holding cells in the basement. "You're going to stay here for the night, okay? Two if you need. Don't worry, I understand. Time Lords are pretentious races." He kissed her forehead. "I'll get you some water."

The Doctor was in Athena's room, tearing it up looking for her stash. He needed to get rid of it, he was not going to have that on board.

_It's in a pocket in her backpack_.

"Oh so you knew this entire time?!" He shouted to the room. "You didn't bother to tell me?!" He threw one of Athena's pillows at the wall and then a glass vase Athena had used for some flowers. The vase shattered and the flowers and water spewed across the wall. The Doctor could feel hot, angry tears running down his face. The TARDIS withdrew herself from the room, leaving the Doctor completely alone.

The Doctor stormed over to her backpack and ripped every pocket open. He found the little that was left and flushed it down the toilet and saved the syringe for the med bay. He began throwing her things into her bag; he was done in a matter of minutes. He looked at the pictures she had printed out. He picked them up and thumbed through them again. He smiled slightly and then he ripped them in half. She had broken his hearts.

He stormed out of her room, out of the TARDIS, and back towards Torchwood. Jack was waiting for him near the entrance. "Here's her bag. I can't leave until tomorrow morning. I'll be in the TARDIS if you need me." He turned to leave but Jack caught his shoulder.  
"I know you won't believe me Doctor, but listen anyways: don't abandon her." He jerked his shoulder from Jack's grasp. Jack continued anyways, "I see the way you look at her. You need her. I know you don't believe me but—"

"What I need is for everyone to leave me the fuck alone, Jack. No more companions. Not ever."

"But she's—"

"She's a burden. I won't have her on board."

"You're making a mistake."

"You're wrong. Keep the Lorians another night. I'll be back tomorrow." He stormed out of Torchwood before Jack could even refuse. Jack's heart broke for the Doctor.

The Doctor got back to the TARDIS and walked into his room. He locked the door, telling the TARDIS to stay out. He took his coat, suit, and shoes off. He laid face down in his bed and screamed into his pillow. He thrashed around, punching other pillows and his headboard a few times. After he blew off some steam he sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. What compelled her to ever do something like that? Ever?

He stared at the wall in front of him, hoping it would give him the answers he was searching for. What compelled him to tell her that her brother had wasted his life? Even though she was going through withdrawal and she would've been even more emotional that normal, her reaction wasn't far off from what she would've normally done. He was tired of giving people second chances. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed, mentally preparing himself to leave Athena behind.

Jack led the Lorians into three separate overnight rooms. He then went back down into the basement to see Athena.

Athena was lying on a cot, writhing in pain. She let out pained sighs and had tears steadily rolling down her eyes. She was clutching her stomach and occasionally let out a small scream.

Jack stared down at her. He had tons of friends go through withdrawal but none of them had it this bad. He knew the life of an escort, since he himself had to be one for a couple years when he got stranded in Paris in the 1950s. He found himself and his friends drowning themselves in booze and drugs. No doubt Athena had done the same.

"Here Athena, drink this." He sat her up and made her drink some water. "You need sleep." He put a sleeping pill in her mouth and made her finish the water.

She coughed in response and fell back onto the cot. She fell asleep just a couple minutes later, no doubt exhausted from her day. She was still shaking and writhing in pain but it had subdued. She would wake up in the morning feeling just as bad, if not worse, than she felt now.


	10. The Doctor's Celebration

The Doctor climbed out of bed, not having slept at all. He had weighed every option in his head. He could take Athena back and pump a ton of medicine into her and get her through her withdrawal in no time and they could keep traveling. Or he could take her back and make her go through the withdrawal. Or he could leave her. His Time Lord's instincts were telling him to leave her. He had the entire night to think; Jack was right, he needed her. They were very similar, sad and hurtful pasts and memories. No one else would understand them as well as they understood each other. The TARDIS already felt empty without Athena's music sounding throughout the hallway.

Athena woke up with a start, covered in sweat. She had a throbbing headache and it felt like her stomach acid was eating through her stomach. She tried to sit up but found that she couldn't. Jack was asleep in a chair near her. Athena took a few deeps breaths and regained herself as best she could.

Suddenly a bell sounded through the basement and Athena's hands flew up to her ears to block out the sound. Jack woke up and almost fell out of the chair. He gathered himself, checked on Athena, and then went upstairs.

The Doctor stood at the door to Torchwood. Jack answered the door and the Doctor walked in without acknowledging him.

"Is there any paperwork or anything I need to sign, saying I'm taking them?"

"Nah, don't you worry about that. I'll go get the Lorians."

"Yeah." The Doctor stood in Torchwood's main room and waited for Jack to return.

Jack came back with the Lorians in tow. "Doctor, I think you should see Athena." He suggested.

"I'll see her after I take the Lorians back home. I need to think about taking her back. I can't have that sort of situation on board."

"Can you at least check on her, please?" Jack pleaded.

Zeni spoke up, "you are a doctor. You should check on her. She is not well. She needs you."

Kleo spoke up too, "that girl has a dark past. We can sense it. She just tries to bury her sorrows. Can you blame her, Last of the Time Lords?"

The Doctor straightened up and sniffed the air, "fine. I'll check on her."

Jack led the Doctor downstairs. He saw Athena curled up on a cot, covered in sweat and sobbing. She was clutching her stomach and had her back turned towards the door.

The Doctor kicked open the door, sending a huge crashing sound through the room that caused Athena to scream and cower further into herself. He walked up to her and forced her onto her back. He stared at her. She had dark circles around her bloodshot eyes. A wave of sympathy overcame him, he silently reprimanded himself for kicking the door open.

He quickly shook off his sympathetic notion. He crouched down so he was eye level with her. "Good morning."

Athena tried to laugh but could only manage a strangled breath. The Doctor brushed her hair out of her face. He was quickly filled with sympathy again. There had been several times where he had been compelled to turn to something, anything that could get rid of the hurt he always felt. But he never did. He always snapped himself out of it. The girl staring at him from the cot could have very easily been him. The Doctor stared at her face for several minutes, seeing nothing but fear, pain, and sadness.

Without another word the Doctor picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and passed out.

"So you're going to take her?"

"Jack, what has happened to her is awful. I had a lot of time to think last night. I could've been in her position, feeling like I had no escape and needed to resort to drugs or alcohol or something. That's why I have companions. They're my drugs and alcohol. I can't leave her." Jack nodded. The Doctor turned to go back up the stairs and Jack smiled to himself, the Doctor was in love again whether he knew it or not.

The Doctor emerged from the basement with Athena in his arms. "Can someone get a chair please?"

Jack pulled a chair out from behind a desk and the Doctor set Athena down. "Right, someone make sure she doesn't fall over. I'm going to get the TARDIS and bring it in here. Then we'll be off to Loxikap!" He shed his overcoat, laid it across Athena, and ran out of Torchwood.

Within minutes the TARDIS was materializing inside Torchwood's main room. The Doctor bounded out of the TARDIS, wrapped Athena in his coat and picked her back up. "Can someone carry her backpack for me, please?" Kleo grabbed Athena's backpack and followed the Doctor into the TARDIS. "You three wait here." The Doctor continued on to Athena's room. The TARDIS swung the door open, happy to welcome Athena back. The Doctor laid her down on her bed. He smoothed out her hair and smiled. Yes there would be problems between them, he still had to answer for his outburst, but they both needed someone right now. Maybe more than either of them ever did. He kissed her forehead and left her room.

The Doctor walked out of the TARDIS and back into Torchwood.

"So this is it, Doctor?" Jack asked.

The Doctor nodded, "for now. I'm sure I'll see you again."

"Don't doubt it." The Doctor extended his hand, which Jack snubbed for a bear hug. The Doctor tensed up and after a while Jack let go. The Doctor awkwardly bowed his head and went back inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor set the coordinates for Loxikap's capitol city, Olax. He turned to Kleo, "There is a room, the TARDIS will lead you to it, where you can spend the day and night. It's going to take us about 36 hours to get to Loxikap."

"Thank you very much Doctor. We are in your debt."

"Oh don't you worry about it!" The Doctor sent the TARDIS into the Time Vortex. The three Lorians set off down the hall, leaving the Doctor alone in the console room.

Once he was certain the TARDIS was flying smoothly, the Doctor made his way to the med bay. He searched through the drawers looking for his anti-withdrawal pills. "Hm…cocaine, meth…ah! Heroin!" He pulled a packet of green pills out of the drawer and put them in his pocket.

He went into Athena's room. He moved a chair she had up to the side of her bed, sat, and waited for her to wake up. It didn't take long, only six minutes. 'Right, insomnia…' he thought to himself.

Athena forced herself to sit up. She wasn't shaking nearly as much as she had been yesterday, that was a good sign.

"Hello Athena."

Athena nodded.

"Heroin withdrawal typically lasts 72 hours. Everyone's different, but that's an average. You've already endured 14 hours. We have 36 until we get to Loxikap. That's 50 of you 72 hours of hell and torture right there. Well, then there are another couple weeks of headaches and fatigue and overall pain."

He saw how scared Athena looked. He took the packet of green pills out of his jacket pocket.

"I have anti-withdrawal pills. Some for heroin."

He saw the hopeful look in her eyes, and he almost caved. But he held himself together and put the pills back into his pocket.

"But I'm not giving them to you."

She slumped back against the headboard, groaning as her head made contact. The Doctor leaned closer to her.

"I want you to suffer, Athena. That way you never touch another drug again. Do you understand me? Do this, and I won't throw you out. Do this, and I'll take you to see as many stars and planets as you want."

Athena saw this coming. She didn't put it past the Doctor. He did want what was best for both of them, even if it meant causing one of them a considerable amount of pain. He wasn't a softie, but she was still furious. Couldn't he at least give her one, to help ease the symptoms? She studied his face and noted no sign of flexibility. She nodded her approval.

"There's a good girl." He stood up to leave. "Try to get some rest." He turned out the lights and walked out of her room.

The next 36 hours passed by very slowly. The Doctor could hear the Lorians going over Loxikap's government and diplomatic affairs from their room. Usually that would interest him and he'd be participating in the discussion, but he wasn't in the mood right now. The Doctor found himself in the library. He could hear Athena's screams echoing through the TARDIS halls. Every time she screamed the TARDIS tried to get him to go check on her but he refused every time except to occasionally take her a glass of water.

After that long and arduous wait, the TARDIS landed. The Doctor told the Lorians to gather their things then led them out of the TARDIS and into the main assembly at Olax.

The Senator, who basically acted as commander of the Lorians, greeted them with open arms. "May I ask who Kleo, Undai, and Zeni's savior is?"

"Right, I'm the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you." The Senator held out his hand, which the Doctor clasped with both of his in an enthusiastic handshake.

"We must feast, to honor our hero!"

"Oh, that really isn't necessary." The Doctor countered, while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"But I insist." The Doctor groaned in response, he hated recognition. He just wanted to go back into the TARDIS.

"Senator, sir," Undai interrupted, "there is another on board. She travels with the Doctor."

"She must join us too!"

"Oh," the Doctor stammered, "she's quite ill, I'm afraid." Maybe the Senator would let them leave.

The Senator beamed at him, "well you're a doctor! Go and fix her so she may join in the festivities! These three are my best squad team and they've been missing for weeks! This is cause for a fantastical celebration! Go get her, Doctor! You have two hours!"

"Oh all right." The Doctor turned towards the TARDIS and rubbed his neck. He went inside and towards Athena's room. "Athena?" She stirred in her bed and groaned in response. "Hey Athena. Come on, get up."

"But…still…head…"

"The Senator wants us to celebrate with them."

"Who's The Senator?"

"Chief Lorian. He wants to reward us."

"Can't."

"Come on." The Doctor sat her up against the headboard. He went into the bathroom and filled up a glass with water. "One of these pills is good for five hours. I'm going to give you one, okay?" Athena nodded while her head drooped off to the side. The Doctor held her head up straight and opened her mouth for her. He gave her the pill and made her drink some water. She swallowed the pill with considerable effort, but she swallowed it nonetheless.

Within seconds her bloodshot eyes returned to normal, she straightened up, and color returned to her face. "Get dressed in something fancy. We're going to another ball. Be ready in two hours." Panic found its way to Athena's face. "I promise you won't catch on fire this time." She laughed. God, how he had missed her laugh.

Athena worked her way out of bed and into the closet. She wore a strapless black and blue dress that only made it to her knees. She wore flats and put her hair up in a bun. You could see most of her tattoos, she would definitely make an impression on the Lorians. She didn't really care though. She put on some makeup and looked in the mirror. She was tired of her black hair. As if the TARDIS had read her mind, which she probably did, a bottle of hair bleach appeared on the counter. Athena smiled, knowing exactly what to do with her hair. She put a t-shirt over her dress and sat down to work.

The Doctor was waiting in the console room. The Doctor wore a simple black tuxedo and bowtie with black trainers. Athena came into the console room. She was wearing an almost knee-length black and blue dress revealing most of her tattoos, black ballet flats, blue eye shadow with cat-eye eyeliner, silver jewelry and she had changed her hair. Instead of it being just jet-black she now had bleach-white tips with two bleached streaks running near her face, but still with enough black hair in between to act as a frame. She took his breath away. Well, she always did.

He smiled at her and held out his arm for her to take. The two of them exited the TARDIS into a completely decked out ballroom.

There were pillars of vibrantly colored cloth and fire pits throughout the hall. There were tables of food and tables to sit and eat at. There was a dance floor on the opposite side of the hall. Athena was glad the Doctor had given her an anti-withdrawal pill, even though she was certain this was the only one she was getting and it was simply because The Senator had demanded it.

They heard a booming voice, which Athena assumed to be The Senator, "There they are! Our honored guests! The marvelous and heroic Doctor and the beautiful Athena!" The room erupted into applause while the Doctor and Athena both blushed scarlet. "They will lead us in the first dance!"

The Doctor audibly gulped, his hands getting clammy. Why were his hands getting clammy? His hands never got clammy. They only got clammy around Rose. 'No. Athena is nothing compared to Rose.' He thought to himself. 'Nothing.' He looked down at Athena and he felt the same warmness that filled his body when he looked at Rose. 'No!' He chastised himself. They were making their way to the dance floor when another voice popped into his head. 'Rose is gone. She has someone new. She doesn't need you anymore.' He got sad. He stole another glance at Athena and he quickly became happy again. 'Shit…' he thought to himself, 'No more humans.' Too many human emotions had rubbed off on him. He was falling for Athena. Why else would he have taken her back? He would've never taken anyone back if he had found out any of them were addicted to drugs like she was. Yet here she was, right by his side.

'Rose has moved on. Time for you to as well.' The Doctor tried to get the new voice to shut up but it just got louder. It was right though; the Doctor needed to keep going.

They were on the dance floor now. A quick song started and they just stared at each other, not sure what to do. It sort of sounded like a tango tune. Athena put the Doctor's hand on her hip while she took the other one and then placed her hand on his shoulder. She then led them in a salsa, putting all the Lorians in the room in awe. They had never seen a dance like that before. The Senator clapped, urging them on. Eventually the Doctor took over and the two of them were flying around the floor. Soon, Lorians were pairing off and trying to imitate Athena and the Doctor. Most failed, but they were all having fun anyways.

"Where did you learn to dance like that?" the Doctor shouted over the music.

"Dance videos on the internet, I needed to spice up my routine when I worked in London." She answered back as the Doctor spun her around.

"Well you're quite the dancer." He pulled her closer to him.

"And where did you learn to dance like this?"

"You pick things up when you travel." He winked at her and they continued to amaze the Lorians. Both Athena and the Doctor were laughing and smiling. They were glad they were with each other, even though they were pretending everything was normal when it really wasn't. It would take time for everything to be put back together.

A few songs later The Senator declared it was time to eat. Athena and the Doctor were led to a table and sat next to The Senator. Plates of food were brought over and Athena looked over at the Doctor with a confused look on her face.

The Doctor pointed to himself, telling her to follow his lead. Everything he put on his plate she put on hers. Almost everything she tasted she could place on Earth. There was something like chicken, something like yams, and something like brussel sprouts. The Doctor and The Senator shared adventure stories. A female Lorian sat next to The Senator. Athena figured she was his wife. She kept looking at Athena.

"I've never seen such markings. What species are you?"

"I'm human!" Athena responded, too eagerly. She was being ignored by everyone, she was glad to be able to talk to someone.

"Humans don't have those markings."

"Oh, they're tattoos." The Doctor shot her a look, and then suppressed a laugh as he watched Athena try to explain what a tattoo was.

"What is a tattoo?"

"It's…uhm…" Athena racked her brain for a passable explanation that didn't sound torturous. "Some people opt to do this. We get ink injected into our skin to create patterns."

The Queen looked horrified. "That must be so painful!"

"Not really. Sometimes. Depends on where you get it, some parts of the body are more sensitive than others."

The Queen nodded. "How many do you have?"

"Nine."

"That's a lot."

"Yes it is. But I got them all for a sentimental reason. This one is my favorite." She pointed to the Eye of Horus on her wrist. "I don't really know why, but it is."

"It's very beautiful." The Queen said, taking Athena's hand in her's to observe the tattoo closer. "Doctor," she interrupted her husband and the Doctor, "do you have any tattoos?"

The Doctor spit out his drink and started coughing. Athena laughed, "No he doesn't. He's above tattoos. He thinks they mean you're a troublemaker." Athena shot him a mock glare before smiling again.

The Queen looked back at Athena, "Are you a troublemaker, Athena?"

"Sometimes." She and the Doctor said in unison. They both blushed and looked away from each other. The Queen laughed, amused by the smitten pair.

The rest of the feast went on marvelously. The Doctor and Athena danced together for several more songs. Athena danced with both Kleo and Undai. The Doctor danced with Zeni as well. Late into the night, Athena could feel the effects of the anti-withdrawal pill wearing off.

"Doctor, my head."

"Oh, right." The Doctor took her arm and led her up to The Senator's throne. "Sir, I think we need to be going. The…treatment…I gave to Athena is beginning to wear off. She needs to go back to sleep."

"Oh, yes, perfectly understandable." The Senator came down from his throne, "I am very grateful to you both. Thank you so much for bringing back Kleo and his team. You are welcome here any time."

"Thank you very much." The Doctor responded with a grin. "Have a lovely rest of the evening."

"Oh, we will." The Senator said as he climbed back onto his throne. "And Athena, get well soon."

Athena awkwardly bowed to The Senator before being pulled away by the Doctor and hurried into the TARDIS. As soon as the TARDIS doors shut, Athena's head felt like it was going to explode. She clambered to the jumpseat and lay down, waiting for the pain to ebb away.

The Doctor stood far away from her, observing her. He hated seeing Athena in pain, but he knew this was for her own good. He walked over to her and offered her his hand. "Come on. I'll take you back to your room."

Athena took his hand and let him lead her to her room. When they got there he unzipped her dress and helped her get it off. Normally that would've sent this body into a heated frenzy, he loved seeing Athena's body, but now he was rather impressed with his self-control. She changed into some pajamas, climbed into bed, and curled up into herself.

"You should be almost back to yourself in the morning. No more acute pain."

Athena nodded. The Doctor pulled the blankets over her, kissed her forehead, turned out the lights, and left her alone.

He walked back into the console room and put the TARDIS into orbit around Loxikap, they would decide where to go next in the morning. He was exhausted, which was unlike him. He went into his room and took a shower. The hot water felt both painful and delightful at the same time. By the time he got out he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He fell onto his bed without even putting clothes on.

A blaring alarm woke both the Doctor and Athena. The Doctor threw a robe on and ran into the console room. Athena ran into the console room seconds after the Doctor.  
"What the hell is going on?!" Athena shouted.

"You back to normal then?" The Doctor shouted over the alarm. Athena glared at him but faked a smile. "Glad to hear it! We're being hailed."

"What does that mean?"

"We're being pulled onto another ship. The alarm is because it isn't a friendly hail, it's forceful."  
"What does that mean?"

"Anything from whomever is hailing us has never hailed a TARDIS before to we're being taken prisoner."

Athena stared at the console. She had gone to prison before, prostitutes get arrested all the time. However, she had never been arrested on an alien planet.

A different alarm rang through the TARDIS. The Doctor blanched. "What's wrong?" Athena questioned, afraid of the answer since that alarm had immobilized the Doctor. "Whoever this is just took down the defenses." He ran to Athena's side and grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes, "I'm so sorry. They have enough power to take down the TARDIS's defenses. This means trouble."

"We've dealt with trouble before, it'll be okay." Athena tried to reassure.

"No. Nothing like this. This may be it."

"What do you mean?"

"It was wonderful knowing you, Athena." The Doctor hugged her and kissed the top of her head. Athena grabbed at the Doctor, pulling him as close as she could.

Then someone burst through the TARDIS doors. Before either of them could get a good look, they were both knocked unconscious.


	11. Taken Prisoner

I'm sorry it's been so long! School is picking up and finals are right around the corner so this may be the last chapter you get for a little while...warning: this chapter is one of the reasons this story is rated M. R&R please! It's kind of short...sorry about that

* * *

The Doctor woke up several hours later in a prison cell. His head was pounding and his vision was hazy as well, probably from the blow to the back of the head. Several minutes later his vision cleared and he saw a monitor hanging from the ceiling across from him. He realized his ankles and wrists were chained and he was forced into a standing position.

"What's going on?! Where are we?!" The Doctor shouted to the empty room.

The monitor clicked on and a purple creature with three eyes appeared on the screen. It's voice filled the room. "You have been taken prisoner."

"Well I can see that! Where's Athena?"

"The girl has yet to wake."

"Is she safe?"

"You were caught orbiting Loxikap."

"Yeah, so?"

"Loxikap? The Lorians? We intercept any ship near Lorian airspace."

"Why?"  
"Well that's war for you."

"Oh…no no no we aren't Lorians."

"Well I can see that."

"Oh so you can see me, good. Okay." The Doctor gave him his trademark Oncoming Storm glare. "Let us go."

The purple creature on the monitor laughed at the Doctor. "You returned three Lorian scouts to Loxikap."

"Yeah, doing a favor."

"You are allies with the Lorians."

"Well I'm not an enemy!"

"You are an ally. You are our enemy."

"No no no that's not how it works."

"It works for us."

"Who is 'us'? Who am I talking to?"

"That's enough for now." The screen switched to a picture of Athena. She was arranged similarly in a standing position with her wrists and ankles chained. "Athena! Can you hear me, Athena?"

Suddenly Athena's head snapped up. She had scratches across her face. "Doctor?" She noticed the monitor, which was showing an image of a prison cell with the Doctor in it. She pulled at her chains and then realized she was held up by her wrists and ankles. "Doctor, what's going on?!"

"We've been taken prisoner. I don't know by whom, but they assume we're Lorian allies. The Lorians are currently at war with whomever kidnapped us apparently."

"Oh, okay. Good to know. What's going to happen to us?"

"I have no idea. Just, stay strong, okay?"

The creature appeared on the screen again, "Good Doctor, telling her to stay strong. She'll need it. But so will you."

"What do you want?!" The Doctor shouted back.

"We want to know what the Lorians are planning for the next step of the war."

"We have no idea! Let us go!"

"That's what they all say." The image switched back to Athena.

"Athena, I'm going to figure out a way for us to get out of here, okay?"

"Okay…okay."

The creature clicked back onto the screen, "We have ways of making you talk. Everyone talks." Suddenly the picture switched back to Athena. "Doctor, what does he mean?"

"I have no idea." He lied. He knew exactly what the creature had meant. His suspicions were quickly realized as two guards came into his cell. "Athena, sweetheart, close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Just, please."

Athena couldn't make her eyes close, she was too scared. On the monitor, she saw the two guards stand in front of the Doctor. One of them punched him across the face. "No, stop! He doesn't know anything!" Her screams were fruitless. The one guard continued to punch him. The other guard produced a rod that looked to be electrically charged. He jammed it into the Doctor's stomach. The Doctor screamed and writhed in pain. "Tell us what you know!" The guard shouted at him.

"I don't know anything about the Lorians! All I did was return Kleo and his squad!" He let out another scream. The guard punched him across the face again.

"I don't know anything." The Doctor breathed out. "I'm sorry. Athena, I'm so sorry."

Athena was crying. She was helpless, she couldn't do anything to stop them from hurting him. She watched as they continued to electrocute and punch him, leaving burns and blood in their wake.

Suddenly the creature appeared on the monitor again. "Step away. He's not going to tell us yet. Maybe we need a different leverage point." The two guards backed away from the Doctor. Athena saw his bloody, and most likely broken nose. He had a black eye. He had a split lip. The guards had opened his robe and he had burn marks all over his stomach and chest. She stared, in complete disbelief. The Doctor's naked body was covered in bruises, blood, and burns. Her heart went out for him. The two guards left his cell.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor turned his attention to the monitor. "Hey…"

"Oh my God…"

"I'll be fine, Athena. I'll be okay. Just keep talking to me."

"Okay…some party last night, huh?"

The Doctor feebly laughed, "Yeah, some party. You're a great dancer."

"Yeah, you too." Then Athena's door swung open.

"No! Leave her alone! Leave her the fuck alone!" The Doctor shouted to the monitor. He could hear the creature's voice but the image stayed fixed on Athena, "maybe if we have a go at your woman you'll talk."

"Leave her alone! I'm begging you! Do to me what you're going to do to her, please."

"A beggar. Even though that is tempting, she may know something you don't. We have to try every option."

"She's only human! She hadn't met the Lorians until a couple days ago, please, I'm begging you. She doesn't know anything!"

"And yet you said the same thing. Proceed."

The Doctor watched in horror as the two guards approached Athena. One of them struck her across the face. The Doctor was amazed when she didn't scream out. She was tough. She spit the blood out and laughed, earning her another punch across the face. The Doctor pulled at his restraints again, he could see Athena fade a little more with each punch.

The Doctor blinked and when he opened his eyes he realized only one guard was in front of Athena. The other one was standing off to the side unzipping his…"No!" the Doctor shouted. "No! Don't! Stop! She doesn't deserve this! Get your guards the fuck away from her!"

The Doctor watched, helplessly, as the other guard approached Athena. He saw realization dawn on her face. She writhed as much as she could. "Get the fuck away from me!" The guard forced her shorts down and was on her. "Get your fucking hands off me!" Athena screamed. The Doctor watched the pain in her face. He watched her scream. He screamed with her. He tried to break free, he needed to help her. He felt his restraints tighten even further, causing blood to trickle down his wrists and ankles.

"No, no, Doctor." The creature's voice sounded again, "let my boys have their fun with your female."

"You let her go right now. Please. Use me. Don't use her this way." The Doctor pleaded.

"They've never had a human before."

"They've never had a Time Lord before."

"Male and male? That's punishable by death, Doctor."

"What do you care? You're the army! You're running everything under martial law, what does it matter?"

"Female humans will always be picked over male Time Lords, even if you are the last, Doctor."

The Doctor screamed again. The first guard was finished. Athena was crying. His companion…there wasn't anything he could do. He watched as the second guard descending and Athena screamed again. The Doctor started crying with her. After several minutes of pure, unimaginable torture, the guard pushed off her. The two guards left her cell and Athena was sobbing. The Doctor felt his hearts break. His poor Athena.

"Athena…I'm so sorry."

Athena nodded. "It's…"

The Doctor swallowed, "Don't you dare say it's okay." He saw blood running down her leg. He could feel his blood boiling. His jaw clenched and he saw red.

She tried to speak again through her tears, "I was going to say it wasn't your fault."

"But it is." Athena noticed his voice was cold, but she didn't care. She wanted to die.

"You had no way of knowing." She pleaded with him, trying to get him to calm down.

"I'll get us out of here."

"You better." Athena suddenly felt dizzy. Her vision faded and she passed out. The Doctor watched her slump over as much as her restraints would let her. She stood there, in her oversized shirt, which luckily enough for her reached down to her knees. He saw her shorts bundled up around her ankles. His anger had intensified as he got a better look at her.

"You going to talk now, Doctor?"  
"I don't care who you are or where you're from. I don't care if this ship is the last ship of your species. I will burn this entire ship for what you did to Athena." The creature laughed at him. "Are you testing me? Just you watch. I'm a Time Lord. Nothing can stop me. You are all going to die."

The creature shut the image of himself off and the Doctor could see Athena again. Even though he could feel unconsciousness trying to take over, the Doctor stayed awake. He was going to keep an eye on her, guard her as best as he could. He was going to make sure this entire ship was destroyed for what they did to his Athena.


	12. Tensions Rise

i am SO SORRY it took so long. I had a play and then finals and then my flights got cancelled and delayed and, long story short, i got home 34 hours later than i was supposed to BUT here you go! it's on the long side and packed with lots of stuff to (hopefully) make up for the wait :) please R&R, it'll make me very happy!

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The Doctor had figured they had been there three days. The torture continued, but nothing compared to the first day. His heart had hardened, he felt himself being able to handle the pain much better than before. The guards didn't go near Athena any more. He figured that she had lost their appeal to them. He was very thankful for that. That was until one day the Doctor lost his temper and the little sanity he had left. During one of his bi-daily beatings, the Doctor managed to bite one of the guards. He felt a salty taste in his mouth and then realized he had bitten off a chunk of flesh. He spit it out and saw the blood running down the guard's arm.

The guard's partner moved to strangle the Doctor. The Doctor was able to twist his neck to bite the guard. He bit into his wrist, cutting through the skin and into the artery. He tore away as much flesh as he could and the spit it back into the guard's face. The guard let out a shriek of pain and stumbled back. He ran out of the prison cell. The Doctor was past the Oncoming Storm now, he had gone insane.

The remaining guard punched the Doctor and then followed the other guard out of the room. The Doctor felt relieved to have them gone. That was until he saw the guard who had just left in Athena's cell.

He placed his hand onto Athena's neck, no doubt choking her. He then cut her shirt open. They had never bothered to replace her shorts, so now she was naked, just like he was. Completely vulnerable. Completely vulnerable to the guards. The sight snapped the Doctor back into his wits. He held his breath, terrified.

The guard took out a blade and cut Athena from her collarbone down to her navel. She let out a muffled scream the entire time. The Doctor thrashed against his restrains to no avail. He began foaming at the mouth, he needed to draw more blood. More alien blood.

Suddenly there was an explosion down the hall. The guard left Athena's cell to investigate. The Doctor started laughing triumphantly, if a bit maniacally. He looked back up at the monitor. Even through her tears, Athena joined him in his laughter.

"Athena! This may be our chance!"

"Doctor, I hate to break it to you, but we're both in chains."

Then they heard a familiar voice over the intercom, "Oh, we can't have that now can we?"

"Kleo!" Both Athena and the Doctor shouted in unison. "Oh are we glad to hear your voice!" The Doctor shouted.

"We'll be with you in just one moment." Kleo said again.

"Get Athena first! Please!" The Doctor shouted, begged. Moments later, Zeni appeared in Athena's cell and started to work on getting her free. She spun on her heel and shot an approaching guard. The Doctor let out a triumphant laugh. Athena was free. He watched her, extremely relieved that she was safe. He felt his peace of mind slowly return. She stumbled a bit upon standing on her own, but once she regained her footing she got dressed as best as she could and joined Zeni in the search for the Doctor.

Minutes later, Athena and Zeni burst through the door of the Doctor's cell. "Doctor…" Athena ran up to the Doctor and kissed him, full on the mouth. To the Doctor's surprise, he was returning the kiss. Then he smiled. His Athena was still his Athena.

"Humans…" Zeni said in mock disgust. "Let's get him out!"

Undai showed up and shot a couple guards threatening to get into the cell. "Hurry up! The Senator is about to blow up the ship!"

Undai and Zeni released the Doctor. He fell to the ground, unable to walk. Athena was at his side in a heartbeat, "Not now Doctor, you aren't failing now." Athena wrapped her arm around him while Undai wrapped his arm around from the other side. Together, the two of them got the Doctor out of the cell.

"Come on! This way!" Zeni shouted. She fired a few more shots and killed a few more guards. Zeni led them through the ship and down into a lower level.

"My TARDIS!" The Doctor shouted. Kleo was standing next to the TARDIS. "Lorians, what an amazing race!"

"Yes yes thank us later, get in!" Kleo shouted and opened the door. They fell into the TARDIS and sat the Doctor on the jumpseat.

"Okay, tell me what to do." Athena said.

"That lever there!" Athena followed his directions and he rattled them off, "now that button, no not that one the green one! That lever! Enter '001' into the computer. Now that red button, no the smaller red button. That lever there! No! The one next to it!" Athena followed his directions and before they knew it the TARDIS dematerialized and then rematerialized on Loxikap.

The three Lorians helped the Doctor and Athena out of the TARDIS as they tried to cover themselves up as best they could. The Senator was anxiously waiting for them. He embraced the Doctor, ignoring the wincing and grunts that came from him. "We are so glad you are safe!"

The Doctor pulled back. The Senator recoiled at the sight. The Doctor was bruised, bloodied, had several broken bones, and had blood dripping from his mouth. "Who were they?"

The Senator gathered himself as best as he could, "They were Kleops. Vicious. Always attacking us, we aren't sure why. We think they want our sulfur, they have a similar atmosphere to us. More importantly, how did they get you?"

"Instead of going into the Time Vortex I sent the TARDIS into orbit around Loxikap."

"Well you're safe now. Will you stay or go?"

"We're going to get as far away from here as possible, no offense."

"None taken. I'm sure your ship has medicine for you, yes?"

"Yes, plenty."

"But first, watch this." The Senator turned the Doctor around and pointed up to the sky. There was an explosion that lit up the sky orange and red. "That was the Kleop ship."

"Good riddance." Athena spat. The Doctor growled in approval. He was glad to see them gone. The worst part? That thought didn't scare him and he didn't care. They tortured Athena, they deserved it.

"We'll be off." The Doctor said.

"All good." The Senator said. "You are always welcome might you wish to return."

"Thank you very much." The Doctor said. He held out his arm for Athena. Athena rushed to his side and helped him walk back into the TARDIS.

She set him on the jumpseat and looked at him. "You poor man."

"I've had worse."

"Sure." She turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"To get first aid stuff."

"Come here first." Athena walked back to his side. "In front of me, please." Athena shifted until she was in front of the Doctor. "Good," was all he said before he used the last of his strength to reach up and grab her face and pull it to his. He had never been the one to initiate a kiss with a companion before. A true, passion filled kiss. Not one of those 'because someone needs saving' kiss. A real, genuine, kiss. And it was quite an amazing kiss. He vowed to himself to not keep his feelings from Athena. He wasn't going to have another tragedy like Rose. "I'm so sorry." He muttered. "I didn't mean for any of that to happen."

Athena let out a small laugh, "If you had meant for it to happen then you can drop me off back home."

"You trusted me."

"And I still do." She smoothed down his hair and went to the medical bay.

The Doctor leaned back. He figured he had several cracked ribs as well as the burns and a broken nose. He'd be able to heal himself over night. Definitely before tomorrow night. Time Lord biology made him feel extremely lucky in instances like this. Athena would never recover, not emotionally anyways.

Athena came back into the console room with the first aid kit. "So everything in here is in some weird symbol language."

The Doctor took the kit from her, "it's Gallifreyan, you won't be able to read it." He opened up the box and took out a jar of light blue cream. He rubbed it onto his burns. He pulled out a pink cream and rubbed it onto his bruises and cuts. He set both of the creams aside and took Athena's hand. "This is going to hurt." He held his nose with one hand and then moved it back into place, screaming and clutching Athena's hand with his other hand the whole time.

He looked a lot better. The creams worked almost immediately and he was almost completely healed. His nose was set and Athena started to clean the blood off his face.

"How are you doing?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh I'm fine." She shrugged off his question. She cleaned the blood off of his chin. She had seen what he had done and it terrified her. She wasn't going to let the Doctor know, she figured they could pretend it never happened.

"Don't you lie to me."

Athena stared back at the Doctor. "I'll be fine." The Doctor's gaze intensified. "Don't worry about me, Doctor." Athena put the bloodied rag in the kit. Then Athena realized that the Doctor was basically naked. She blushed. The Doctor just stared at her, not caring about his lack of clothing.

The Doctor moved her shirt away from the cut down her stomach. He traced his finger along the side, ignoring Athena's winces. He looked up at her, teary-eyed. He took the pink cream out of the kit again and rubbed it onto her skin. "Since you're not Gallifreyan it will take a little longer to work. It'll probably scar too." He kept his hand on her stomach, tracing circles on her skin.

Athena nodded, completely speechless. Why was the Doctor touching her like this? It made her extremely nervous.

"So, that kiss?" The Doctor started. 'He wants to do this now?' she asked herself. "Why?" He asked.  
"Just…a thing. Us humans like to celebrate. We survived. So…celebrate. A bit." Athena blushed, that was probably the stupidest answer you could give.

"So it meant nothing to you?" The Doctor pushed.

"It meant 'yay we survived!'" She lied. Of course it meant something to her. It meant everything to her. She just refused to admit it.

The Doctor nodded and got up from the jumpseat, "Mine didn't." He walked out of the console room and into his room. He laid down on the bed and mentally punched himself. That was the closest he had ever come to saying he loved someone. He made a mistake, he should've kept it all to himself. He needed to avoid Athena as much as possible, let these feelings die down. Maybe he'd take her back home. No doubt she'd want to go back to travelling after this anyways. He stared up at the ceiling and tried to fall asleep, ignoring the fact that Athena was just down the hall.

Athena had nightmares that night. The Doctor heard her screaming in her sleep. He tried his best not to go to her room, but he couldn't help himself. After the third time she screamed he ran into her room and woke her up.

"You were having nightmares."

"Yeah, I know. Happens." Athena rolled over and away from the Doctor.

"May I?" He gestured to the bed, despite her not looking at him. It had become a sort of formality with him.

"Sure." The Doctor got under the covers and laid behind her and forcibly rolled her onto her back. Things had been tense between them because of her withdrawal and now the added romance wasn't making it any better. He pulled her onto his chest and held her. Athena tensed up but quickly relaxed.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I was just raped. Twice. What do you think it was about?" The Doctor didn't respond, instead he rubbed her back. Athena curled up into him even further. He could offer to wipe her memory; she wouldn't remember any of the torture. Then he'd have to explain the slash down her stomach, that would be awkward.

Athena broke the silence first, "Stephanie Morrison."

"What?" The Doctor was shocked at the sudden noise and a bit confused.

"That's my name. Stephanie Kaylee Morrison."

Realization dawned on the Doctor's face. "Oh…Athena's your stage name." Athena nodded into his side. He stroked her hair and laid his lips on top of her head, "What name do you prefer?"

"I don't really care. Haven't used Stephanie in years."

"I like Athena. No offense, but it's more powerful." He started tracing the name 'Stephanie' onto her arm in Gallifreyan. He felt what it looked like, it looked beautiful.

"And you're all about power, huh?" The Doctor laughed. "Why did you kiss me?"

Athena felt the Doctor tense up at her question. He stopped moving his fingers and lifted his head off of her's. "I…uhm…" He stuttered, how was he supposed to say this? "I like you. Well…love. I love you." Athena laughed a little, "Yeah right, no one loves me. Let alone you. Druggie, remember? Exotic dancer…I'm nothing compared to you."

"But that's behind you now."

"Yeah, so? It still happened."

"You're different. You're a fighter. A survivor."

"So?"

"I just love you, okay? Is that so hard to believe?" He moved out from under her and propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her, "Why don't you believe me? This isn't exactly easy for me to talk about, Athena. I've always kept it to myself. Always. Then you come along and…" He fell silent. He felt extremely awkward. This felt like a conversation between teenagers instead of adults. She had the ability to make him completely vulnerable and that's how he felt, completely vulnerable.

"Yes, actually." She propped herself up and matched his glare, "it is hard to believe."

"Why don't you believe me?" He hissed.

"Rose."

"She's gone." He spat back.

Athena looked up at him. He had tears in his eyes. "I won't be a rebound, Doctor. I've been hurt too many times."

His expression immediately softened. He reached out to touch her face. "You aren't a rebound."

Athena jerked her head away from his reach. "You can't be sure."

"And neither can you." He almost shouted back.

"I am nothing."

"Oh, Athena," he calmed down, "don't you ever say you're nothing."

"It's true though." Athena rolled over and away from the Doctor, "good night, Doctor."

The Doctor was silent for a while. He didn't want to offend her by saying anything else. He'd have to figure out a way to make her believe him. Otherwise her presence would depress him. Unless he was able to get over it, it may be early enough that he could get over her. His internal body clock told him it had been 8 minutes and 37 seconds. She was probably asleep by now. "Jeremy didn't waste his life." Athena let a tear roll down her cheek. She noticed that the Doctor didn't move after saying that, and she didn't make him. She fell asleep soon after.

The Doctor didn't budge. He fell asleep on Athena's bed. He woke up several hours later with Athena in his arms. He couldn't help but feel that that was right, that they should be together. It felt just like it did when he woke up with Rose in his arms. But for some reason, he and Athena fit together better. Then he reminded himself he wasn't human, he was a Time Lord. Time Lords and humans can't be together, no matter how much he wanted it. He had never told a companion how he felt about them. Now he was never going to do it again. Hopefully she would remember it as a dream. Hopefully they could pretend that that conversation never happened. He slid out from underneath her, careful not to wake her, and went to the TARDIS's gym to run until he couldn't breathe.

Athena woke up to an empty bed. She felt a small sadness creep in, but she quickly dismissed it. She got up and got ready for the day. After she was dressed she climbed back into bed. She laid there, staring at the wall. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to go outside of her room ever again. She'd just get hurt again. She pulled the covers over her face and crawled down her bed as far as she could. She fell back asleep underneath her covers.

She heard a pounding on the door. She glanced at her clock, '12:07'. She had fallen asleep for almost three more hours. She heard knocking again. She groaned and pulled the covers back over her head.

The Doctor was standing outside of Athena's room. He had been knocking on her door for several minutes. He heard a groaning sound coming from her room. "Athena, are you awake?"

There was another groan.

"Athena? Are you okay?"

He heard something smash against her door and he jumped back. "Athena!" He tried to open her door. Either she locked it or the TARDIS was keeping him out. "Athena, let me in! I want to help!"

"Leave me alone!"

"Athena…"

"Fuck off!"

The Doctor sniffed and straightened his tie. He took on a superior demeanor. "I'll be back later, Athena." The Doctor slouched back down and walked slowly to his room.

He got back to his room and sat down in his leather armchair. He was extremely confused. Why had Athena not let him in? Then realization dawned on his face. Her nightmares last night must have really gotten to her. He leaned back into his chair and sighed. He began shaking with anger. The TARDIS set a cup of tea down on the table besides him. He smiled and drank it, trying to calm himself down. It wasn't working. Nothing would work. The TARDIS even put some whisky besides him. To his surprise he drank it. He'd give her a couple more hours and then he'd go check on her again.

The Doctor finished his book on English history and went to return it to the library. On his way back to his room, he stopped by Athena's. He knocked on the door again.

"Athena? Are you in there?"

There was silence.

"Athena? May I come in?"

No one responded. The Doctor cautiously opened the door and peered into the room. He saw Athena lying curled up on her bed. He slowly walked over, trying not to make a sound. He looked down at her, she was still breathing, just asleep. He quietly turned on his heel and walked back towards his room. He looked at his clock, which was set to London time. It was already 11:16 PM. He wasn't particularly tired, but he stripped and crawled into bed anyways.

When the Doctor got up the next day, he didn't even bother to get dressed in more than his boxers and undershirt. He immediately went to Athena's room. Again, he heard groaning come from the other side but Athena didn't open the door for him. He walked away from her door and into the library. He drowned himself in books. He read for twenty four hours straight, something he got accustomed to doing when his past companions didn't want to spend any time with him. He went back to Athena's room and knocked on the door again. Instead of hearing a sad and tired groaning, he heard Athena screaming.

The Doctor ran back to his room and got his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. He sprinted back to Athena's door and with the help of his sonic unlocked it and ran inside. Athena was curled up in bed, asleep, and having another nightmare.

He ran to her bed and jumped up, hovering over her. "Athena! Athena, wake up! It's me, the Doctor!" He shook her, "come on Athena!" Her eyes shot open and she looked up at the Doctor with pure terror and squirmed to get out of his embrace. She pushed him off her and crawled up against her headboard, clutching it for support.

"Athena, it's okay, it's just me. The Doctor."

Athena gave him a cautious look.

"You scared me…look." He reached for her hands and put them over his racing hearts. "I'm scared for you. I'm worried about you. Please talk to me."

Athena jerked her hands away and wiped away her falling tears.

"Please Athena, I can help you feel better."

If it wasn't for his advanced Time Lord physiology he wouldn't have heard her say, "Get out." His face fell. He sat frozen, looking at her. He just wanted to help, he wanted to understand. She was his companion, after all, and he wanted her to be happy. He cared about her, he loved her. He had finally decided that he wouldn't hide it. He couldn't hide it. Everything about Athena consumed him, he was lost in her. He wasn't going to lose her, he was going to let himself get as close to her and she would possibly let him. He needed her.

"Get out!" Athena shouted. She threw a pillow at him and shouted again, "Leave me alone!" She burst into tears and collapsed onto her pillows, unable to move, just sobbing. The Doctor moved to console her. He helped her up so that she was leaning on his chest. He rubbed her back as she cried. His grip tightened on her, he rocked back and forth. Anything to help soothe her. Anything for her.

It didn't take long for Athena to cry herself to sleep. The Doctor didn't even notice at first. Once he did, he watched her sleep. She had wrapped her arms around his abdomen and was clutching him. He laughed a little bit, she was very strong for her size. He sat there for another 42 minutes until Athena loosened her grip. He slipped out from underneath her and laid her down. He tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead. He walked out of her room, leaving the door open just incase she started screaming again. He went back to the TARDIS's gym to relieve the newly found stress and tension that came from being around her.


	13. Athena Needs a Distraction

R&R please! it'll make me happy :)

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Athena woke up all tucked in and feeling very warm. She had been plagued with nightmares but she vaguely remembered the Doctor coming into her room last night. Whether it was a dream or if she was really awake when that happened, everything had been okay after she saw him. He was really good at comforting her. He understood her. He cared about her. After all of their fights and disagreements, they were still always there for each other. Maybe he did love her. She immediately realized where her emotions were headed. If she didn't start controlling herself, she would find herself completely in love with him and they wouldn't be able to handle that.

She then remembered she had yelled at him to get out. The look on his face, it hadn't been a dream. She felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She needed to find the Doctor, she needed to make it up to him.

She didn't bother to get dressed, instead she grabbed a robe. She walked towards the console room and didn't see the Doctor anywhere. She made her way to the galley and he wasn't in there either. She must've really hurt him last night, but she was scared. He, of all people, would understand. Maybe she could do something for him. She knew he liked bananas, he put bananas on almost everything they ate. She decided to make him banana bread.

An hour later she pulled the bread out of the oven, put it on a plate and sliced it up. She had no idea where the Doctor was so she started wandering the hallways. She came upon a dark wood door, she figured it was the library or his room. She knocked on the door and opened it a bit. It was the Doctor's room. She opened the door a little more and saw him asleep on his bed, not even under the covers. She cautiously walked in and saw he was in workout clothes. 'The Doctor works out? Wonder what's under those clothes…' she quickly stopped her thoughts. She knew, she had seen him naked, but then she tried to remember and she couldn't, she must've been too shaken up to admire. But she did remember leaning against him in the tree on Odelf and she could feel his muscles and lean frame. But why did she think that? She knew she liked the Doctor, a lot actually. He was the first person to treat her as a real human being for years. After coming from that sort of life, she was surprised that she wasn't totally in love with him already. She could feel that emotion creeping up. And it didn't matter if he said he loved her or not because he probably didn't, she was probably just a rebound anyways. But as she stood there, she suddenly realized she was being extremely creepy. She started to blush. She set the plate of bread down on his bedside table and quickly left the room. She shut the door and then leaned against it. Did she love him? 'No…no. No. You can't. There are probably laws against it anyways…but he is the last…no. You don't love him. You just like him. That's all.'

She ran back to her room, shut and locked the door, and then remembered that the TARDIS had given her an easel, canvas, and paint. She unwrapped a large canvas with the urge to paint but she had no idea what to do. She left her room to find the library for inspiration. The TARDIS must've known because the first door she opened was the library. She walked around the bookshelves, nothing really catching her eye. Then she saw a huge, leather-bound book resting on a table near a chair. The Doctor must've been reading it. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a book about Gallifrey, loaded with pictures. She found a picture of a city encased in a bubble. She took the book back to her room, she'd paint something for the Doctor.

The Doctor woke up as soon as he smelled Athena enter his room. In fact, the smell was a mixture of her and bananas and there couldn't have been a better smell in the world. He kept his eyes shut the entire time, which was a long time since, for some reason, she felt like standing and staring at him. He waited a little bit after she left and then opened his eyes. He had brought her a plate of warm banana bread; no doubt she had just baked it. So she didn't love him back, but she did like him enough to wake up early and bake for him. Maybe there could be something between them. He pushed the thought aside as quickly as it came. But then he smelled something else: pheromones. He felt a sly smile, almost a smirk, cross his face. 'Oh the things I'd do to her if I ever got the chance', he then shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't be having these fantasies about a companion, no matter how attractive or mysterious they were. Attractive and mysterious, two of his favorite things. But he needed to remember his place. Athena was not feeling herself, no doubt about it. She had just been violated in the most awful way. He felt anger bubbling up inside him, he wanted to lash out at someone for what was done to Athena. He got another whiff of Athena's scent and the banana bread and calmed down.

He ate a few pieces of the banana bread and then got dressed. He was feeling sort of excited, but not his usual 'adventurous' excitement, something his older bodies rarely experienced. He did his best to quell his feelings and made his way to Athena's room with the rest of the banana bread.

Athena had started her painting. She painted the majority of the canvas orange when she heard a knock on her door. She threw a sheet over the painting and answered the door. The Doctor was standing there, in his usual brown suit, with the plate of banana bread. "It smelled so good, I had to try it before we could share." She laughed and moved aside to let him in. He looked around and sniffed her room, "what are you painting?"

"Just…things."

"Things." He tore some of the bread off and popped it into his mouth. "Fascinating."

"Yeah…" She watched the Doctor walk around her room with a sort of swing, a sort of swagger. He ducked his head into her bathroom and her closet, ran his free hand over her furniture, he was acting really strange. "You okay, Doctor?"

"I'm terrific." He gave her a sly smile that frightened her a little bit. "I've got a plan for us." He saw her tense up. No doubt she was still terrified and traumatized. She was just faking being okay. He set the plate down on a table near her couch and walked towards her. She backed away a little bit, only to run into the wall. She saw his eyes soften and then he stopped a couple feet from her. "There's this planet not too far from here. They have a month long summer festival. It's basically one giant carnival, would you like to go? You need out of your room." Athena visibly relaxed and let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She was shaking a little bit so all she could do was nod. "Good! I'll come get you once we've landed." The Doctor moved to open the door, "oh, and Athena," she glanced at him, afraid to make eye contact, "thanks for the bread." He walked out of her room and left Athena feeling very nervous. Why had the Doctor acted so strangely, so much like a predator? Was that what he did? Told girls he liked, or even loved them, just to get with them? He wouldn't get with her, not ever. She would never let him near her in that way.

As soon as the Doctor got to the console room the TARDIS mentally slapped him. He had scared Athena. He didn't mean to, he was just feeling…different. Excited. Energized. But he had screwed up. She was probably afraid of him now. He just had such a hard time controlling himself. He was rather proud of himself, actually. All he wanted to do was push her up against the wall and kiss her like he did that night they got back to the TARDIS after being tortured by the Kleops, no, snog her. To run his hands down her stomach or legs again. To carry her to her bed and…no. Instead, he stalked around her room, feeling everything, eyeing her up, scaring her. Something about her made his primal urges come out. It was bad, it was very bad. If the whole deal with the Kleops had never happened then maybe it could be a sort of game between them, like it was between him and Rose sometimes. But this was different, this was completely and totally different. She had just been abused. Even if she had wanted to play some game like this with him, she wouldn't want to now.

17 minutes later the Doctor could smell Athena approaching. He did his best to calm himself down. She walked into the console room wearing a short white dress and black leggings with black ballet flats. The Doctor smiled at her, she always looked stunning. "You look beautiful, Athena."

She mustered a smile and stood away from the Doctor. She moved to the other side of the console and looked at the levers and buttons. "Where are we going?" She asked, without even looking up at him.

"This small planet called Yorwe."

Athena nodded and sat down on the jumpseat.

"You've ever been to a carnival, Athena?"

"Once…when I was little."

"I think you'll like it."

Athena nodded and played with the hem of her dress. The Doctor had never seen her this quiet. He worried about her, he could tell she was very scared. Hopefully this trip would cheer her up, distract her a bit. And calm his libido down.

The TARDIS landed and the Doctor held his hand out for her. Reluctantly she took it and followed him out of the TARDIS.

They stepped outside and onto a sunny field. The Doctor started bouncing up and down like an excited little kid while Athena stood there. Out in front of them were rides and games and they could smell different kinds of food being fried or grilled. The Doctor was beaming. He looked down at Athena and noticed she wasn't even smiling, she was just standing there. His hearts sank. This carnival had been voted 'The Happiest Celebration of the Galaxy' three years in a row, how was she not at least a little bit excited?

"Come on Athena, let's go explore!" He tugged her arm and she obediently followed him into the carnival. He took them up to a ticket booth and they got enough tickets to last them the whole day. He dragged her to a food kiosk where they both got hot dogs and lemonade. The Doctor finished eating in a couple minutes and looked at Athena, who hadn't eaten anything and was staring at her food.

"We're on Yorwe."

"Uh huh."

"The native population look so humanoid and their customs, food, and history are so similar, that about 100 years ago the humans started living here too."

"Neat."

"We're in the year…oh…somewhere around 2750. Give or take."

"So I'm dead." She stared at him. A cold, blank stare.

"Well technically, yes. But you aren't, Athena. You're alive. You're alive and experiencing this huge event. It's in celebration of the arrival of the humans. Probably the only planet that celebrates it, to be honest. You humans are control freaks. Always exploring and conquering and invading. It's insane."

"Yeah." She started eating. Very slowly, but at least she was eating something.

The Doctor threw away their trash and he turned back around to face her. He took her camera out of his pocket, she had left it in the computer room when she had printed the pictures when she thought he was going to kick her out, so he grabbed it when he saw it. He kept forgetting to return it. Athena was looking away from him, not paying attention. He took a picture of her. She was absolutely beautiful. He set the camera around his neck, he figured she'd take it from him when she was happier.

The Doctor walked over to the table and held out his hand for her. The two of them started wandering around the fairgrounds. The Doctor took a few pictures of her, gaining him anything from a light punch in the arm to a small smile. He took pictures of the rides and the vendors, anything he thought Athena would want a picture of. This world wasn't much different from Earth, no interesting trees or clouds or animals.

The Doctor took her on a ferris wheel, where he took more pictures, countless roller coasters, and a few rides he would have never gone on but only went on because he saw Athena simply look at them.

After one of those obnoxious rides that straps you in and spins you upside down and around and you have no idea which way is up, Athena started smiling. The Doctor unharnessed himself and promptly fell onto the ground, making Athena laugh. She helped him up and the two of them left the ride with their arms wrapped around each other and laughing. "No more rides." The Doctor groaned. "I'm too old for this shit." Athena burst out laughing again and helped him sit down.

"Oh come on, how old are you? 30? Early 30s." The Doctor let out a sarcastic laugh and Athena rolled her eyes. "No older than 35."

"I'm 906."

Athena gaped at him, "No…no, that's not possible."

"I'm not human, Athena."

"Well I know but…wow. 906. That's insane!"

"Yeah…it is. Time Lords don't die. Well, we do, eventually. But what would kill you won't kill me."

"What do you mean?"

"Say I get shot. This body begins to die. This person dies. I transform into another man. It's called regeneration."

"Must be confusing, you meet someone and then they've regenerated and you don't recognize them." She laughed at her own joke.

The Doctor smiled at her, "We have a way of knowing who's who."

"I bet." She smiled. "So how long is the lifespan of a Time Lord?"

"Depends how careful you are. We have 13 bodies. Each time you 'die' you turn into another one. There really isn't an average out there."

"What body is this?"

"Number ten."

"How old is this body?"

"Oh…about five years. Just a bit more."

"Not very long then, huh?" The Doctor shook his head. "What's been your favorite body?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just your favorite!" The usual gleam was back in Athena's eyes. He smiled at her, everything seemed right with the universe again.

"Well…the fourth was fun. He was funny. He got along with lots of people, very amicable. I think it was my longest body. Hard to remember sometimes."

"Can I meet him? You said we can go back in time and what not."

"Can't cross my own time stream."

"Oh…figures."

"I like this one though. Probably my most handsome, to be honest." He smiled at her again.

"Yeah?" Athena smiled back at him.  
"Yeah…four had insane hair." The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair, "nothing like mine." He winked at her and she blushed and laughed. All anxiety that Athena had felt earlier about being near the Doctor faded away. She realized she could still trust him, nothing had changed between the two of them. Well, a lot had changed, but nothing bad.

The Doctor started regaining feeling in his legs. "Let's get ice cream." Athena took the camera from out of his pocket and took a picture of him, sitting on the bench with a tired smile. She beamed back at him and got up, holding out her hand for him. He took it and they wandered until they found an ice cream vendor.

The two of them shared a sundae while they watched families and couples run around, too excited to simply walk.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"You needed a distraction."

"Yeah…" Athena put her spoon in her mouth, "pretty good ice cream for a carnival."

"I thought you said you'd only gone to one carnival, Miss Stephanie." He helped himself to a spoonful of ice cream as well, trying to get as much of the hot fudge as he could.

"But it's all fried food. Fried food is never good."  
"I beg to differ."

"I guess. 906, you've been around the block."

"Quite a few times." He gave her a cheeky grin and helped himself to more ice cream.

After they finished the Doctor dragged Athena to a bottle game.

"What prize do you want?" The Doctor asked her.

"Cocky, aren't we?"

"I'm amazing." He bragged.

"Humble too." The Doctor smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes and pointed to a small alligator stuffed animal. "Good luck, Doctor." She held her camera up, ready to snap a photo of him failing.

"I don't need luck." He gave the game operator a couple tickets and he got three baseballs in return.

"Uh huh." She held down the button on her camera so it was continuously taking pictures. The Doctor winked at her. He closed one eye, aimed, wound up, and threw the ball at the bottles, knocking them all down with one shot. "What was that about luck, Athena?" She laughed out of pure bewilderment. "That was some sort of Time Lord magic, huh?"

"I'm excellent at cricket."

"If you say so." The Doctor handed her the alligator stuffed animal and took her hand. "I think it's time we went back to the TARDIS, what do you think?"

Athena nodded and leaned against the Doctor as they walked. He put his arm around her and breathed in her scent. Things were almost back to normal with them. They were nearing the edge of the carnival, and then they heard a crash. They both spun on their heels. The Doctor took the camera and alligator and stuffed them into his pockets. He took Athena's hand and they ran towards the crash.

A crowd was gathering at the opposite side of the fairground. There was a huge ship a few miles off in the distance. "How did we not notice that falling? That's huge!" Athena whispered to the Doctor. He shushed her and was straining to see the ship. What kind of ship had just crashed?

Suddenly, they saw just small specks flying out of the hull of the ship. The swarm split into two, one headed for the city near the crash site and the other headed for the fairgrounds. They were about three miles off, but getting closer every second.

The Doctor, thanks to his superior sight, was able to tell what they were before anybody else could. Before Athena could stop him, the Doctor jumped up onto a table nearby.

"Everybody, listen to me! These things will be here any second! I know what they are, they mean trouble. Run. Run as fast as you can. Get as far away from here as you can."

One particularly sassy native spoke up, "Who put you in charge?"

"You all have never dealt with these before. You need to run. Run!" As if to emphasize his point, the city that was on the opposite side of the crash burst into flames. "Run!" It didn't take any more from the Doctor, the natives were fleeing.

He jumped off the table and grabbed Athena's hand.

"What's going on?"

"Run!"

They sprinted all the way back to the TARDIS. The fairgrounds were deserted by now. The Doctor was having trouble with the lock on the TARDIS…of all the possible times…  
"Doctor! What is attacking us?"

The Doctor turned around and looked at Athena with a look of pure terror on his face. "Daleks."

"But weren't those the things—?"

"Yes."

"They killed your—"

"Yes."

"They attacked Earth!"

"Yes."

"They killed so many—"

"Yes! I know, Athena!" Athena recoiled at his rage. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but we need to stay as calm as we possibly can. We can beat them, but it will be hard. Very, very extremely hard. Almost impossible." Athena nodded. She turned towards the crash site. The Daleks were flying over the fairgrounds now.

"Doctor!" It was a metallic voice, if you could even call it a voice. "We have located the Doctor!"

"Wait! Just wait!" The Doctor put his hands up in the air, trying to plea with the Daleks. "What do you want? Just tell me what you want."

"Revenge."

"You attacked Earth. You attacked a Level Five planet, I needed to defend them!"

"Revenge against you, Doctor! To make you suffer, so you have to live alone like us!" The Dalek took aim at Athena and the Doctor's hearts stopped. "Exterminate!"


	14. The Dalek Ship

HAPPY NEW YEAR WHOVIANS! i hope you all had a splendid New Year's Eve and New Year's! You know what would make my New Year's? a couple of reviews! pretty please, let me know how i'm doing! :3

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The TARDIS doors opened and the Doctor tackled Athena inside just in time for the laser to hit the shut TARDIS door.

"You okay?" He was still on top of her.

"Yeah, despite the oncoming headache, I'm fine. You?"

"Yeah…uhm…yeah." He couldn't keep his smile hidden. He felt the urge to kiss her again. To feel her lips on his. Then he remembered she wanted none of that, none of him. Just friends. He pushed himself off of her and ran over to the console and sent them into the Time Vortex.

"We can't just leave!" Athena shouted as she got up from the ground. She ran over to the Doctor and tried to pull him away from the controls, "we have to help! We have to help them! They destroyed your planet, imagine what they'll do here!"

The Doctor turned to her and gave her his signature Oncoming Storm glare. "Last time I saw the Daleks I lost so many people."

"Doctor…you can't…"

"Donna. I lost Donna because of them. My best friend. I lost Rose. Twice. Everybody I've loved. I am not going to—" he cut himself off.

"Going to what, Doctor?"

He turned away from Athena and stared at the console, "It was aiming straight for you." Athena glared at his back. "I'm not going to lose you too."

"You can't change your mind like this! You said we were going to fight them, what happened to that?"

"I'm entitled to change my mind." He snapped back.

"You've never changed your mind as long as I've known you."

He turned back around and marched up to her and looked down at her. "I changed my mind about you." His look turned into a glare, as if he was trying to tell her he was not going back. Despite his anger and fear, he could still feel the warmness that came from his chest when he looked at her.

Athena's expression softened. The Doctor turned his back to her and focused on the controls. They stood in silence for a few moments.

"If you don't take us back there so we can help then you can take me back to London." The Doctor turned to face her, tears welling up in his eyes.

"But you could die."

"I don't care."

"I can't go on without you."

"Take us back, Doctor."

"But they'll kill us. You."

"How many times have you seen them?" The Doctor remained silent. "You always survive. You said yourself we could beat them. That it would be hard but we could do it." Athena continued to stare at him. "Please." The Doctor studied her face. "Only because you say so, Athena." The Doctor set the coordinates back for Yorwe.

They landed about five minutes later. Athena went to open the TARDIS doors but the Doctor pulled her away and went ahead. He opened the doors and looked around. They landed on the field about two hundred meters from the Dalek's ship.

Athena stood on the tips of her toes to look over the Doctor's shoulder. She gazed up at the ship. Despite it being a decent distance away, it still towered over them. "Is your ship as big on the inside as their's is on the outside?" The Doctor shot her an offended look. "I'll have you know that my TARDIS—"

"Yeah yeah, just saying, they have guns."

The Doctor pushed his back into Athena, getting her to move backwards, as he shut the door. Despite the dire situation, the small amount of contact made the Doctor more nervous than the Dalek's ship just outside his TARDIS doors.

The Doctor took a deep breath, just about to say something to distract Athena from his sudden nervousness when they heard a metallic voice outside.

"The TARDIS has been located!"

"Yeah, wasn't exactly smart of me landing right by the ship…" the Doctor let that sentence roll off his tongue as he looked around the console room. He walked back up to the control panel and Athena followed. He focused back on Athena, "oops."

The metallic voice filled the air again. "Activate transport!"

The TARDIS lurched, causing the Doctor to fall onto the control panel and Athena to fall onto her back.

"Doctor, what's happening?" Athena shouted over the cacophony of metal crashing against itself.

"The Daleks are transporting us to their ship!"

"How do we get out of this?" Athena had managed to get herself upright and was now clinging onto the jumpseat.

"We don't." The Doctor sighed. "We just have to survive." He let out a small, sad smile and looked back at Athena. "I won't let them hurt you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Doctor."

The Doctor responded with a nod and the TARDIS landed with a thud. Both Athena and the Doctor fell to the floor, the Doctor hitting his head on the control panel as he fell. This knocked him unconscious.

"Really?" Athena made her way over to the Doctor's unconscious form. "Really? Great, wonderful Time Lord biology and you still conk out from a bump to the head! Unbelievable…" Athena sat the Doctor up against the control panel. "Doctor?" She lightly patted his face, trying to get him to wake up. "Doctor…come on, I need you." She slapped him across the face and he fell over. Athena leaned over and put her fingers on his pulse point. She could feel his hearts beating, he was still with her.

The metallic voice filled the air again, "The Doctor and the female will exit the TARDIS!" Athena looked towards the TARDIS doors and then back down to the Doctor. "Come on, wake up!" She shook him and his head jerked back and forth with little resistance.

"Exit now!" The metallic voice sounded again.

"Okay!" Athena shouted. "Okay…" she hooked her hands underneath the Doctor's armpits and dragged him to the TARDIS door. "I am so sorry about this, Doctor." She fluffed up his hair a little bit, opened the door, and used her foot to keep it open as she pulled the Doctor onto the floor of the Dalek ship. She stepped over his body to block him from the Daleks.

"The Doctor is unconscious. Explain. Explain!" The lights on top of the Dalek heads, at least Athena thought they were heads, lit up with each word. She laughed at the sight of the Daleks, inwardly at least. She was fighting glorified salt and pepper shakers. "Explain!" The harsh voice jolted her back to attention.

"He fell."

"The Doctor does not simply lose consciousness."

"Well he hasn't been sleeping recently so it's not too surprising." She lied. She had no idea how much the Doctor needed to sleep but he knew he was sleeping less than her so she made assumptions.

"Time Lords only need 4 hours of sleep for ever 72 hours! He is plenty rested."

"Know your enemy, huh?" Athena said under her breath.

She heard a slight buzzing noise coming from behind her. It sounded like the Doctor's screwdriver. She assumed it was the Dalek ship, the Doctor was out cold.

"What is that noise?" the Dalek shouted at Athena.

"It's your ship, isn't it?" she asked.

"This is not a Dalek instrument! Nor a Tristorian!" He shouted at no one in particular. Then the frequency of the buzzing went up and the lights went out. "Electricity is compromised! Electricity is compromised!" The Daleks in the room started shouting at each other and moving around to try to fix the problem. Athena laughed to herself. Then she heard the lock on the TARDIS click into place, locking her out. She was no longer safe.

Well that's what she thought, until a cool hand found it's way into her's. "Run." The Doctor whispered, a little too close to her ear. "And follow me." He pulled her into a nearby corridor and away from the Daleks.

The Doctor felt blessed by his advanced Time Lord biology once again. Luckily for him and Athena, he could see in the dark almost just as well as he could see during the day. He led Athena down the corridor at a brisk pace. Then the lights turned back on. "Run, Athena!" He let go of her hand and started sprinting. Athena stayed by his side as the two of them ran. The Doctor then skidded to a halt and Athena nearly ran into him. He sonicked open a door and pushed Athena inside of what appeared to be a metal shop.

"Just our luck, yeah?" The Doctor grinned as he sonicked the lock shut and then pushed a table up against the door. Athena stared at him, baffled.

"You were never unconscious, were you?"

"Nope!" The Doctor exclaimed, popping the 'p', as he used his superhuman strength to pick up another table and put it on top of the one blocking the door.

"You let me face those Daleks on my own."

"Yep!" He turned to face Athena, "that should keep them out for a little bit. This room is strengthened in the walls to keep their invaders out. I knew it was around here somewhere, just got lucky." He let a chesire grin spread across his face. It didn't take long before Athena slapped it off of him. "What did I do?"

"You left me, defenseless!" She shouted at him.

"I was there, you were never truly defenseless." He tried to laugh her anger off.

"I have never gone up against Daleks before! What if something happened, you weren't quick enough?" She yelled back.

"You see why I wanted to leave now?" The Doctor glared at her. "You see now? Yeah, go save some people. It's always a wonderful feeling. But you have to pick your battles, Athena. This was one I was willing to run from. Sure, I would've hated myself even more for it but it would've meant you were safe."

Athena stared at him, dumbfounded. She didn't have anything of importance to say in response. "You could've warned me."

"Nah…" the Doctor started in his grandiose way, "you fluffed my hair." He grinned maniacally back at her, "I wasn't going to miss the possibility of something like that."

"Yeah, well at least I got some slaps in too." Athena slapped him across the face again. "Just like that one."

The Doctor stared at her while rubbing his cheek, "Blimey…just trying to have a bit of fun while running face first into certain doom." Athena sighed and hugged him. She may have been hugging him a bit too tight for his liking but he brought his hand down from his face and wrapped his overcoat around her, enveloping her in his embrace. "This is nice…" he said in a daze. He rest his cheek on the top of her head and breathed in the smell of her shampoo. He got a tinge of salt, she was crying. He broke away and crouched down so he was eye level with her.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He wiped away a tear threatening to fall.

"Don't scare me like that again."

A smile crept across the Doctor's face. "Okay. I'll tell you next time I'm about to fake my unconsciousness." He let out a small laugh and she joined in. The Doctor had been enjoying the moment too much and forgot where they were. He stiffened back up and scanned the room, not letting go of Athena's shoulders just yet.

"We don't have much time. I need to wire into their ship, lock their systems, and set the entire ship to backfire, short out, and, ultimately, catch fire." He let out a bit of a giddy laugh. He slightly recoiled from himself and focused his attention above Athena's head, shocked he would laugh at the thought of killing. Then he remembered where he was standing; in a stolen ship piloted by Daleks. He forgave himself and looked back at Athena.

"You can do that?"

The Doctor looked back down at her, "I'm the Doctor, I can do anything." He gave her his best smile before pulling away from her and running to the circuit breaker on the opposite wall. He opened it up and flipped every switch the opposite way. Then he unscrewed the panel from the wall, making sure to keep everything in tact.

"The Doctor can do anything. Except be modest."

The Doctor looked over his shoulder, "Hey, that was uncalled for!" Athena laughed at him. "Make yourself useful, human, and get me a pair of wire strippers."

"Oh, human, that's a good one."

"Hurry up!"

"Here you are, Time Lord." She handed him the wire strippers with the sauciest look she could muster. He smirked down at her and peeled the rubber back from the wires leading up to the circuit board. Athena stood on her tip toes and watched him work. "Oh…I see what you're doing. Clever boy." She patted him on the back.

"Just basic circuitry. At least year ten for you and I know you didn't get that far. No offense."

"None taken. Jeremy taught me everything he knew. He probably did loads better than a school could."

"He was smart, your brother."

"Yeah he was. Got a job as a construction worker, actually. So I know exactly what you're doing."

"What am I doing then?" The Doctor asked as he stripped the remaining wires.

"You're going to strip the wires connecting to the circuit breaker and then you're going to get to the basic electrical circuits in the table saw over there, cross the two up, plug in the table saw, turn it on, then you've got an electrical fire wired up to the entire ship."

"I knew I kept you for a reason." The Doctor smiled at Athena before putting on a poker face. "I was going to use the jigsaw over here, wouldn't have to move it as far."

"Oh, details." Athena laughed at him before realization dawned on her face. "Why are there power tools on a Dalek ship?"

"This isn't a native Dalek ship."

"Explain to the simple human."

The Doctor let out a sarcastic laugh. "Very funny…the Daleks raided a small planet called Trinostora around, oh…200 or so years ago. During the Time War. They slaughtered the native population and took their ships and resources. The native population of Trinostora was somewhat humanoid. Not really, but they had arms and fingers, so they were humanoid in that respect."

"So, you knew these were the Daleks because…"

"Because any Trinostorian ship that is flying is being flown by Daleks. Granted, they have made some adjustments in order to feel as though the ships were worthy, but they were also desperate during the Time War. No matter how superior, you take whatever supplies you can get." The Doctor stripped the last wire, "Done!"

A metallic voice sounded through the room again, "The Doctor is inside!"

The Doctor spun on his heel towards Athena. "You need to hide."

"But they'll kill you."

"I'll talk, I'm good at the talking thing. You need to hide. You know what I was doing, yeah?"

"Yeah but…"

"No buts. Take my screwdriver." The Doctor handed Athena his sonic screwdriver. "The settings are already synced to take apart the jigsaw over there." Athena rolled her eyes, "Yes, the jigsaw, get over it. Now, I need you to hide in the cupboards, okay?"

"But Doctor…"

"Please." Athena nodded her compliance. "There's a good girl." The Doctor opened up the cupboard door, took Athena's hand and helped her climb in. "Just remain quiet, okay? They're going to break in any second now." The Doctor kissed her hand before giving it back to her. "Wait thirty seconds after we've gone to come out and keep working. Be sure to remain quiet. I'll try to get it so that all the Daleks are in one room, okay? This is a small ship, there can't be many."

"It's a huge ship."

"A workroom this small? This is one of the Tristorians' smaller ships. The Daleks probably didn't put many soldiers on board." The Doctor looked down at her, "I'm sorry." The Doctor shut the door to the cupboard and faced the door barricaded with tables.

Athena sat in the cupboard under the workbench, trying her best not to breathe. She could hear the Daleks making their way into the workroom. It wasn't long until she heard the tables blasted from against the door and into the wall opposite.

"Ah…so we meet again. Hello." The Doctor started.

"Where is the female?" The same metallic voice filled the air.

"Oh, my female?" Athena did her best not to scoff at his statement. "I lost her. We got separated in the dark. Hate it when that happens, don't you?"

"Where is she?"

"Send someone to look for her. Or better yet…you caught me. Don't exterminate me, put your lasers down. Why don't you torture me? You said you wanted revenge. Would an extermination really be enough for you? Come on, take your revenge on me. I deserve it. I made your ships burn in the Medusa Cascade. I made sure I could destroy as many of your ships as I could during the Time War. Take me to your commander, let him decide. I'm sure he'd agree with me. There's probably some Tristorian weapons on this ship to use against me. Come on, Dalek. Have a bit of fun, even you should know what fun means." Athena got very scared for the Doctor. What if the Daleks decided to exterminate him anyways? He was the last Time Lord, that would mean the end to their enemy.

There was a heavy silence sitting in the room. The Daleks, Athena figured she heard at least two Dalek motors, moved into the room and, she assumed, towards the Doctor.

"Come on…" the Doctor stretched out his arms and spun around. "Wouldn't it be more fun?" He cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "I know I'd have more fun if I was in your position."

The metallic voice rang through the room again. "Take the Doctor to the holding room!"

"Allons-y." the Doctor responded, an air of triumph in his voice.


	15. Escape and Relief

So this is another chapter that acts as proof as to why this story is rated M...but you'll know what's going on and it'll be the rest of the chapter after that SO you can skip to the end if that's not your cup of tea. But regardless, enjoy the chapter!

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Athena counted to thirty and slowly climbed out of the cabinet. She knew if she made any noise she was as good as dead. The Doctor had just been rushed away by the Daleks to possibly get tortured. Hopefully he could talk himself out of it. Regardless, Athena knew she had to work fast, the Doctor was counting on her.

She crawled over to the jigsaw, afraid that her shoes would click against the floor and set off some sort of alien sensor. Once she got to the jigsaw she unplugged it and then stared at the sonic screwdriver in her hand. She had no idea how it worked, the Doctor had never even let her touch it before. She turned the screwdriver around in her hand, examining it as best she could. She noticed that there was only one button on it. She pointed the screwdriver at the jigsaw's circuit cover.

She didn't expect it to work right away. And if it did work, she only expected the screws to unscrew a little bit. Instead, the entire metal paneling fell to the floor with a loud clatter, causing her to scream out of surprise. She held her breath, waiting to hear a metallic voice say 'Exterminate!'.

After what seemed like years, nothing happened. She moved even slower than before. She moved the paneling to the side and looked inside the jigsaw at the wiring. She found the wires connected to the circuit board. She gently pulled the circuit board as far out of the jigsaw as she could without putting strain on the wires, which allowed her to set the circuit board on the table of the saw.

The Doctor was en route to where ever the Daleks felt like taking him. He then heard some metal clattering and Athena's scream. He rolled his eyes and sighed. He was glad that only his superior Time Lord biology had picked up the noise and the Daleks didn't hear it. Right when they had left the metal shop, one of the Daleks sent out a message to the rest on the ship to meet in the holding cell because they had captured the Doctor. He was trying to find a way to talk himself out of this one, his odds were not in his favor.

As they walked, the Doctor was dropping little gadgets he carried with him. He hoped this would leave a trail for Athena to follow. He had already dropped his windup mouse, a yo-yo, a hackysack, and Athena's alligator stuffed animal. He was running out options. He searched through his pockets and ran his hand over Athena's camera. No way he was leaving that behind. He took his glasses off and dropped them on the ground.

Athena was standing over the circuit board, trying to figure out which wires she could disconnect while keeping the saw working. Despite her knowing how the circuit worked, she had no idea how to ensure it would keep working. She stared at is as if it was going to give her the answers.

The Doctor was standing in a room, surrounded by thirty or so Daleks.

"Oh, there aren't many of you! Is this it?" His usual cocky persona shining through.

The one Dalek standing the closest responded, "You know the power of thirty Daleks, Doctor!"

"And you know the power of one Doctor!" he laughed. This earned him some angry buzzing from the Daleks. "Why are you here? How did you survive?"

"The Supreme Dalek ordered us away from the Medusa Cascade, in order to search for remaining ships."

"What remaining ships?"

"Seventy-five Dalek ships never made it to the Medusa Cascade."

"Seventy-five?" The Doctor blanched. Seventy-five ships meant that there were at least another 2,000 Daleks missing. And that was if, and only if, the crews were as small as this one. "How can you lose seventy-five ships?"

"How can you lose your female?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes dramatically, to try to show the Daleks just how ridiculous they were being. Four of the Daleks then advanced on him. "We are here to avenge the Dalek's you have killed, Doctor. This is war."

"I technically didn't kill them." He put his emphasis on the 'I'.

"Always running, Doctor."

"Look, if we can just talk about this—" The four Daleks got even closer, cornering him on all sides. "There's no reason for us to fight anymore. I'm just one Time Lord, I'm not looking for a fight. We can just part. The universe is massive, we never have to run into each other again."

"Empty promises, Doctor. The Daleks and Time Lords are sworn enemies! Even you know that!"

"Yes, but can't we put all that behind us? I've found something better than revenge. Too bad you wouldn't understand, Daleks." The Doctor asked. By now he was surrounded, with all of the Dalek lasers pointed right at him.

"You will always get in our way, Doctor."

The Doctor smirked, he could smell smoke.

Athena had figured out which wires to pull and had connected them to the circuitry in the wall. She earned herself a few electrical burns, but everything was set up. She plugged the jigsaw back into the wall and turned it on. It whirred for a few seconds before sparks started flying out of the wall outlet and the circuit board. The circuit board caught fire and it traveled through the wires. Within seconds, the other outlets in the room began sparking. The Doctor's plan had worked.

She started laughing out of delight. She then realized she was in a room that was in all likelihood going to basically explode any second. She made her way for the door and ran into the hallway. She remembered she had heard the entourage go back down the hall the way they had came, so she followed her instincts. It didn't take long before she came across a wind-up mouse toy. She bent down and picked it up and noticed it had some of the brown fuzz that always shed from the Doctor's jacket onto her. He left her a trail and she followed it.

"Explain your sudden increase in serotonin! Explain!"

"You shouldn't steal other people's ships, Dalek. The circuitry isn't like your's. It's like my human's. I never lost her, I told her what to do."

"Explain!"

"You're going to burn. You're never going to find the other seventy-five ships. But don't worry, I'll be sure to find them for you."

Athena had just picked up the Doctor's glasses. He would never part with these, so she must have been near the end of the trail. She kept following the hallway.

She heard the metallic voice again, "Exterminate!"

She started sprinting towards the voice. It didn't take her long before she found herself in the doorway of a massive room. She looked all around for the Doctor and found him on the floor. Her heart stopped.

"Hey! Dalek!" She threw the yo-yo at the head of the closest Dalek. "Catch me if you can!" She dropped everything she was holding, except his glasses, and ran through the room and out a door on the other side of the room. She had several Daleks on her trail. She could run faster then them, yes, but she couldn't keep up her speed, the Daleks could.

She round another corner and ran into the Doctor, who was also running from his own pack of Daleks.

"Athena!" "Doctor!"

"You're safe!" "You're insane!"

"Never do that again!" "Don't leave me alone again!"

They stopped shouting over each other and hugged and caught their breath. Athena handed the Doctor back his glasses. He put them on and kissed her forehead.

"Okay, if I have any idea where we are, and I usually do, the TARDIS should be this way." The Doctor grabbed Athena's hand and led her back the way she had just come.

"Doctor, we're going to run into—"

"Stop!" the Dalek ordered.

"Daleks…" Athena finished.

"You will stop this running, Doctor."

"No, I really won't. And if I would you, I would start." As if on cue, the lights in the corridor started sparking and flaring. The pack of Daleks that had been chasing the Doctor caught up to them, but they were all screaming and on fire.

"Explain! Explain!"

"Oh…" Athena started. "I rewired the entire mainframe to overload and start and electrical fire. This is an electrical ship. It won't take long before you're entire ship is in flames."

"Exterminate! Exterminate!"

The Doctor took Athena's hand and dragged her through the pack of Daleks. Half of the pack tried to stop the fire from spreading while the other half followed the Doctor and Athena and started shooting.

The Doctor pulled Athena around one more corner and then they were back in the same room with the TARDIS.

"I never thought I'd be so glad to see a police box in my whole life!" Athena exclaimed while the Doctor fished for his key. "Hurry, Doctor!"

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!" The Doctor pulled out the stuffed alligator, shook his head, then stuffed it back into his pocket. He kept searching and Athena could hear the Daleks getting closer. "Fuck this!" Athena held out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the TARDIS. The TARDIS door unlocked and Athena pulled the Doctor into the TARDIS, pushed him towards the console, and closed and locked the door behind her. "We have seconds before this place goes up in flames, Doctor. Get us out of here."

"Your wish is my command." The Doctor smiled his manic smile and started running around the console, pushing buttons and pulling levers. Soon they were dematerializing and the Doctor sent them into the Time Vortex. By then, they had both caught their breath. They stood on opposite sides of the console room.

"So…" Athena started.

"So…" The Doctor echoed.

They both let manic grins spread across their face. The Doctor stepped around the console and opened his arms. Athena ran up the ramp and into his arms. He picked her up and swung her around. When he set her back down he just held her. He didn't want this moment to end too quickly.

Then he smelled her pheromones. His head was swimming, if he didn't let go of her there was no telling what he would do. But they were both so happy, so content with being close. He needed an excuse.

"Oh, almost forgot!" The Doctor lied. He produced the stuff alligator from his coat pocket, "Miss Athena, I believe this is your's."

Athena smiled and took the alligator from him. "Thank you for keeping him safe."

"Oh it's a him?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I may get jealous." He raised his eyebrows and started rocking back and forth.

"You're ridiculous Doctor." She smiled and a wall of her pheromones hit him, he almost stumbled backwards. After he resituated himself he could feel his testosterone levels rising dangerously. He was still a man after all; Time Lords and humans weren't too different.

"Yeah…" the Doctor started. He walked closer to Athena who was still smiling her beautiful smile and unbeknownst to her, smelling extremely intoxicating. He pushed some hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. "I know I am." He leaned in to kiss her. He made very light contact, afraid of scaring her. He waited to see how she responded first.

Much to his delight, she didn't fight back at all. He stayed perfectly still and gave her control. He only remained still for several seconds before Athena wrapped her arms around his neck, dropped the alligator onto the floor, and pulled him closer and deepened their kiss. Neither of them could help but smile.

It didn't take long before their kissed turned from something friendly to something heated. The Doctor didn't recall backing Athena up against the console. Athena didn't recall sitting on the console and wrapping her legs around the Doctor. It all just happened.

The Doctor shed his overcoat and threw it onto the jumpseat. He could hear the TARDIS in the back of his mind, as if she was happy for him, for finally taking his emotions into consideration. He knew the TARDIS liked Athena. Adored, would probably be a better word. The TARDIS never opened her doors for any other companion than Athena.

The Doctor brought one hand behind Athena's head and deepened their kiss. He let his other hand wander, sliding up and down her side or wrapping around her back.

Athena pulled away from him suddenly. It startled and hurt him a little, had he gone too far?

"Sorry…breathing…humans…" Athena panted out. The Doctor laughed, relieved. Athena laid her head against his shoulder and he pulled her further down the console so that their torsos were touching. Athena began kissing his neck, he couldn't help the throaty growl and sighs he made, his neck was his weak spot. He could feel his testosterone levels rising even further. His eyes then widened in shock, his boxers and trousers were starting to get rather tight.

Athena felt the Doctor tense up. It didn't take her long to figure out why. She kept her attention on his neck, hoping the gesture would tell him she wasn't annoyed or upset. He still stood rigid, so Athena ground her hips into his. He would've sighed, but his breath hitched in his throat and he let out some sort of excited yelp that she couldn't help but laugh at a little.

Suddenly the room got hotter and the Doctor laid her down over the console. He started sucking at her neck and grinding against her center. Athena was having difficulty breathing, everything was happening so fast that the room was spinning.

She still didn't quite have her bearings when the Doctor pulled her up against him again. He returned his mouth to her's and the two of them were snogging again. Except this time, she felt the Doctor's tongue against her lips, asking for permission. She parted her lips and his tongue darted into her mouth while she tried to move her's to his, but all of his movements blocked her. He explored her mouth, tasting all of her that he could. Then the Doctor picked up both of her arms and set them around his neck again. He then moved his hands underneath her ass and lifted her up. He moved one hand to her back and pressed her to him. The Doctor never broke their kiss so she didn't either. She could tell they were moving, she just didn't know where they were going.

The Doctor picked her up and, acting purely on instinct, headed towards his room. He would never, in a million years, if he was in his right mind, do this with a companion. He just felt like he needed to. He loved her and her scent had driven him mad. She seemed on board with everything so far though, he wouldn't push anything. Not with her.

He reached his room and the TARDIS opened the door for them. He walked them over to his bed and he laid Athena down and got on top of her. He was proud of himself for not breaking their kiss. That was until Athena pushed him off her slightly so she could catch her breath. He attacked her neck, lavishing it with kisses and trailing his tongue from her collarbone to her ear, which made her shiver underneath him, and he couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

He pushed himself off of her and off of his bed. He took her shoes off and set them on the ground. He sat back down on the bed and took his shoes and socks off and put them next to her's. He faced Athena and made eye contact immediately. Her eyes, which were normally a cool, calm grey were now synonymous to thunderclouds, as if he would see lightning strike across them at any second. He smirked at her and climbed back on top of her. He put his mouth back on her neck again and ground his hips into her's.

"Someone's excited." She teased.

"Tell me when to stop." He said in between kisses. "Otherwise I'll just keep going. I won't be able to stop myself. You smell and taste too good."

Athena laughed and pushed her hips into him. She started unbuttoning his jacket, which he threw towards his leather chair. She undid the knot in his tie and threw it towards his jacket. She started unbuttoning his shirt. The Doctor swatted her hands away and finished unbuttoning his shirt himself. Instead, Athena moved to unfasten his trousers.

The Doctor felt immediate relief as soon as Athena unzipped his trousers. He kicked them off and was now in just his undershirt and boxers while Athena was still fully clothed. He didn't want to scare her, but he figured since she had been the one to initiate most of his undressing that he could start on her.

He moved his hands to the bottom hem of her dress, causing him to get off her and stand on his knees and break their kiss. He slowly moved his hands up her thighs until they got to the top hem of her leggings and then hooked his thumbs underneath the hem. "May I?" Athena nodded and the Doctor pulled her leggings off so fast she was sure he ripped them. She didn't care right now, they were the TARDIS's anyways.

He worked his hands back up towards the bottom hem of her dress and pushed it up past her hips. "May I?" He repeated and Athena responded by winking and grinding her hips up into his. He pushed the dress above and over her head and then threw it in the general direction of the rest of their clothing.

They were both in their undergarments. They were both shocked but both excited and relieved. This would've been the moment they would admire each other, but they were too busy celebrating being alive. The Doctor descended on her.

The Doctor sank his teeth into Athena's shoulder and started kissing his way towards and up her neck while unhooking her bra. He got it unlatched and threw it somewhere away from them. The room was starting to spin and get hazy for both of them.

Athena pulled the Doctor's undershirt off while he teased her nipples with his tongue and teeth. Athena then realized that the Doctor, at some point, had taken off her knickers. She was now completely vulnerable, but she felt completely safe.

The Doctor returned his attention back to Athena's neck and started sucking at her skin and grinding his hips into her center. He had been massaging her left breast but he let his hand slide down her torso to her hips. He didn't recall taking off her knickers but the point was they were off now. He moved his hand around to the inside of her thigh. He felt Athena's pulse quicken. He shifted so he was more to the side of her and he traced her folds with two fingers, causing Athena to gasp and hold her breath. This excited the Doctor beyond measure; he had planned to draw out the foreplay but now he realized he wouldn't be able to. He plunged his two fingers inside her, causing Athena to moan…and he thought her laugh was the most amazing sound in the universe.

"Mm…Athena…someone's excited." He growled, quoting her.

Athena bucked her hips up towards the Doctor. He growled and bit her shoulder again. Athena pushed his boxers off and tried to grasp his length, but the Doctor grabbed her wrist and moved it above her head, pinning her down.

"Not tonight, Athena…not tonight." He kissed her, very forcefully, but she responded with equal fervor. The Doctor lined himself up with her entrance. He broke their kiss and leaned down towards her ear, "May I?"

"Yes…" Athena responded, breathily.

The Doctor didn't hesitate. He moved much faster than he would've liked. Athena screamed, both in pain and surprise.

"You okay?" The Doctor huffed.

"I'll be fine, yeah." Athena reassured. The Doctor nodded and thrust into her again, causing her to wince. "You sure, Athena?"

"Yeah…yeah."

The Doctor tried to slow himself down but he couldn't. Her scent was getting stronger and the longer he was inside her the more heated he felt. He kept finding new sources of energy it seemed.

It didn't take long before Athena was meeting him with each thrust. This caused the Doctor to moan as well, a sound that sent shivers up Athena's spine. She would definitely have to make him make that noise as often as possible.

The Doctor pushed one of Athena's legs up towards her chest. He moved back to kiss her but she was cursing too much to keep a decent kiss going. He felt like that was a sacrifice he could make, plenty of time for kissing later.

Suddenly Athena was quiet. It took the Doctor a few seconds to realize, his senses were at the level of a human's at this point. He was afraid he did something wrong or painful. His thoughts were dispelled almost as quickly as they came when Athena both, somehow, managed to shout and moan at the same time. The Doctor changed his mind, the sound of Athena climaxing was the best sound in the universe.

He watched her head fall back on the pillow, she was well spent. She kept grinding into him, meeting his hips with her's with each thrust. It wasn't long before the Doctor felt himself let go inside her. He moaned and bit her shoulder one more time. Athena rubbed his back while he came down from his high.

He pulled out and rolled onto his side. His hand that had been pinning Athena's wrist to his pillows was now holding her hand. They stared up at the ceiling, both panting. The TARDIS changed the ceiling from the boring white it was to a view of the night sky.

Athena smiled at first, then her brows furrowed with contemplation. "Did the TARDIS just watch us?"

"I don't know…"

"What do you mean, 'I don't know', it's your ship!"

"She usually knows when to leave people alone. But she's also, apparently, been waiting for something like this to happen."

"Well…that's worrisome."

The Doctor laughed and laid his head on Athena's breast. He traced 'companion' and 'Athena' onto her stomach in Gallifreyan. "So, you're going to stay?"

"What sort of a question is that, Doctor?"

"Just…a lot of things have been happening…to you…"

"I'm staying as long as you'll let me. Until you're sick of me."

"That won't happen. Any time soon." The Doctor rolled off her and onto his back again. He pulled Athena onto his chest and pulled his blanket up with his foot. He wrapped the two of them up and they laid together in silence, staring at the stars, until they both fell asleep.


	16. Redemption

Enjoy the chapter! R&R

* * *

The Doctor woke up the next morning feeling very groggy. He looked down and saw Athena curled up on his chest. He smiled and pet her hair and ran his hand up and down her back. Then the rest of his senses kicked in. They were naked; completely and totally naked. He craned his neck and saw that they had flung their clothes haphazardly throughout the room. He lurched up into a sitting position without even realizing it, waking Athena in the process.

"Are you okay?" She asked, sleep still lacing her words.

"I…what? Athena? What?"

The string of questions woke Athena up. "Surprised to see me then?" She wasn't joking, her voice was cold and sharp.

The Doctor just stared at her, mouth open, eyes darting from article of clothing to article of clothing.

"Good to know." Athena located her dress, got out of the Doctor's bed and pulled her dress back over her head. "You know what?" She started, walking around the room looking for her other pieces of clothing. "Next time you get a little frisky, maybe you should think things through before acting on instinct."

"Athena…I just…I'm sorry. I never should have…"

"Stop. Just stop." Athena turned to look at him, pain clearly written across her face and her normally cool grey eyes storming. The Doctor looked at her apologetically. "I never should have. It was wrong of me."

"Take me home."

"What?"

Athena took a deep breath, "Take me home. Take me back to London. We're done travelling together." She couldn't make eye contact with him.

"Athena…let me fix this." He begged.

"It was fine, Doctor! You didn't need to apologize. I was fine with it. But you regret it, you feel like you have to apologize to me. It's not healthy for me to be here if it fills you with regret and remorse."

"Please don't leave."

"You'd be happier without me, wouldn't you?" The Doctor didn't answer her. "Wouldn't you?!" She shouted back. "You regret touching me. I can't live like that. Take me back to London please." Athena walked out of his room. She walked towards her room, tears steadily rolling down her cheeks. She reached her door, but the TARDIS had locked her out. She started pounding on the door and shouting at the ceiling.

"Athena!" The Doctor called after her as soon as she left. He got out of bed and fell to the ground, tangled in his blanket. He grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around himself and ran towards her room.

He got to her room and saw her sitting on the ground, wiping tears from her eyes. He kneeled down in front of her and she turned her face away from him. He made no effort to force her to make eye contact.

"Please, let me make it up to you. You were still recovering, I should have never touched you. It was inappropriate. I…I've never done that with a companion before."

Athena rolled her eyes, "If I didn't feel comfortable I would've told you."

"It was still inappropriate."

"I felt safe. Completely safe." She turned to face him. "Stop apologizing to me."

"Athena…"

"Stop!" She shouted back. He fell back onto his ass out of shock. He rewrapped himself in his blanket, covering up as much of himself as he could. "Athena…" He reached out for her hand and took it in his. "I love you. You know that." He started stroking her hand with his thumb, "it should've been better. More special. Not so…"

"Celebratory? Impulsive? Random?" The Doctor cringed at her suggestions, but she was right. He nodded. "That's what makes it wonderful. Celebrating life." He remained relatively emotionless. "The problem is, Doctor, you regret it. You will grow to hate having me here because of it. For your sake, I need to go."

"You really feel that? Is that what you want?"

"No. I don't want to leave you." The Doctor smiled slightly. "But I'm going. As soon as the TARDIS unlocks my door!" She slammed her head into her door and the Doctor's hand shot up behind her head and massaged it. She stifled a laugh. "You can't have me on your ship anymore, Doctor."

"Just…just give me time to come to terms with everything."

"I'm not going to sit in my room, Doctor."

"Hold on!" The Doctor sprang up and ran towards the console room. Athena slouched back against her door and blew some hair out of her face. She tried her door again and this time it opened. She got up and went into her room and started packing.

The Doctor reached the console room. He located Martha's phone and grabbed it off the console. He turned and tripped over his blanket, promptly falling onto the metal grating floor. He sprung back up, rewrapped himself, and ran back to Athena's room. He walked into her room to see her packing.

He held the phone out.

"I have a phone, Doctor."

"Oh, you do?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Oh…" he pulled his arm back towards him. "Wait here!" He ran out of her room again and Athena rolled her eyes. He ran back to the console room and replaced the phone in it's usual cubby. He then looked around the console for his sonic screwdriver. It had somehow rolled underneath the jumpseat. He picked it up and ran back towards Athena's room.

Athena was completely packed and fully redressed when the Doctor came back. He swallowed and looked at her, sadness plainly written across his face. "I can't convince you to stay?"

"No. Not until you come to terms with everything you've done; which I do not regret, at all, by the way. It's just you. I'm not going to live on this ship and travel with you as long as you regret what we did. It'll make you miserable. Find someone else to travel with."

Her words stung, the Doctor blinked back tears. He held out his hand, "phone, please."

Athena rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at it and the sonic started buzzing. "Don't you dare fry my phone!" She shouted at him.

"I'm not!" The Doctor shouted back. "There you go." He handed it back to her. "Frequent flyer privileges. Whenever you need me, just call. I'm under 'Doctor'." Athena nodded at him and pocketed her phone. "Right…London."

At this point, the Doctor was dressed in his usual brown suit and white trainers. He landed the TARDIS on Lindon Avenue, where they met. "Will you call, if you need me?"

"Yeah, I'll call." The Doctor nodded at her. "Well…" Athena started. "This is goodbye then."

The Doctor's face was blank. "Yeah…" He didn't move, he just stood by the console.

"Right…" Athena moved towards the door and opened them and looked out at London. "What's the date, today?"

The Doctor looked at the monitor, "March 5th, 2009."

"Oh…" Athena's eyes dropped to the ground, "okay. Thank you."

"Is something…oh. Want me to take you to another day?"

"No…I could really use a talk with my brother anyways. I'll go visit…" she couldn't finish her sentence.

The Doctor walked towards her and hugged her. He kissed the top of her head. "You sure?" He whispered. She nodded into her chest. He let her cry for a few moments before she pulled herself away. She wiped her eyes, looked up at the Doctor, and walked out of the TARDIS, shutting the doors behind her.

The Doctor watched her walk away on his monitor. He let another one go. His hearts broke. He sat back on the jumpseat and stared at Lindon Avenue, even though it had been hours since Athena had vanished from his sight. He wasn't fully aware of the fact that he had tears rolling down his cheeks the entire time. He had fucked up, and he knew it. He didn't fully regret touching her. He loved every moment of it, actually. It was just when he woke up, he remembered what all had happened to Athena. She needed time to recover from her trial on the Kleop ship and he hadn't given it to her. He robbed her of it. He felt sick with himself.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew just how he could fix this situation. Athena had no problems with him, he knew that, but if he could clear his conscience he would have no problem with her being on board.

He sprang up from the jumpseat and flew around the console, punching buttons and pulling levers. He set the date, March 5th 2005, the day Jeremy was murdered. He locked the TARDIS onto Athena's signature. It took him to an alleyway in the middle of London. He walked out the TARDIS doors and sniffed the air. He smelled her, she was only blocks away.

He followed his senses and found a young Athena with an older boy. He couldn't help but smile, the way Athena looked at Jeremy was out of pure admiration. He felt his hearts break again, he knew what was about to happen.

The Doctor followed them all day. He made certain to stay at least a block away from them at all times. The sun started to set and he saw Athena and Jeremy turn into an alleyway. Stepney Green Park was a couple of streets from the alleyway. The Doctor sat on a park bench and tuned his hearing to Athena and Jeremy's voices. It didn't take long before he heard three other voices enter his head. He knew it was the other three boys.

The Doctor did everything in his power to stay sitting on the bench. He could hear Athena's muffled screaming and Jeremy pleading. The Doctor knew if he ran over now, Jeremy would live. Even though he would love that, love to have Jeremy and Athena together today, he knew he couldn't save him. It would be just like Rose's father all over again. He then regretted not having stopped to take Jeremy and Athena on a trip in the TARDIS together. Or maybe two or three or a hundred. It was too late now, he didn't hear Jeremy anymore, Jeremy was dead.

The Doctor got up from the bench and ran towards the alleyway. It took him 37 seconds to reach them. He knelt down besides Jeremy and checked his pulse, hoping for a miracle. No such luck. The Doctor admired the boy for a moment. Even though he never knew him, he was so proud of him. He then moved to Athena. She was breathing, but very lightly. The Doctor took off his overcoat, wrapped the small Athena up in it and picked her up, leaning her against his right shoulder. For a 14 year old girl, she was really tiny. He turned back to Jeremy and picked the boy up and slung him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Once again, thankful for his Time Lord biology and anatomy.

The Doctor stood up and began running. He knew if he followed this alleyway, he would run into The Royal London Hospital. He ran as fast as he could, he felt Athena's blood seeping through his jacket.

Athena woke up, just for a second. She looked up at the Doctor, "What's…what's?"

"You're going to be okay. I promise. You are going to be okay, Athena." The Doctor said back to her. He smiled and she tried to smile back. She rested her head back against his shoulder and passed out again.

2 minutes and 51 seconds later, he burst through the doors of the emergency room. He collapsed to his knees and lay Jeremy down on the ground. Nurses came rushing to help him. "He's dead…he's already dead. He's her brother or guardian or something." The Doctor had to act like he didn't know what was happening, he had to pretend not to know them. "I saw it happen. He was stabbed by three young men. They ran off before I could see their faces. The girl is hurt too, but she's still alive!"

"Did you call the police?"

"The police?! The girl would be dead if I had waited for the police!" The Doctor shouted back. He had planned to fake tears, but he quickly realized he wasn't faking.

"Okay, sir, we're going to do everything we can."

"Please…" The Doctor handed the young Athena over to the nurse. They laid her on a bed and rushed her through the doors to trauma surgery.

Two male nurses had come over to pick Jeremy up and put him on another bed. They checked for his life signs right there in the lobby. One nurse shook his head, so they tried to resuscitate him. Nothing worked. They covered Jeremy with a sheet. The Doctor mentally punched himself for not having taken them on a trip before this all happened.

The Doctor composed himself and walked up to the front desk. "Will she be okay?"

"We're going to try everything we can."

"How much will it cost her? She lives on the street, she must not have anything." The receptionist didn't respond immediately. "Let me pay." The Doctor added.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes I'm sure." The Doctor got out his wallet and pulled out a British bankcard he had wired up to his 51st century credit stick. He loved being a genius, he had completely hacked the system and had unlimited money in any country or time period. Not like the police could ever arrest him anyways. "Take down my information and charge everything to this card. Governmentalized medical care, can't be too expensive, right?"

"What's your name?"

"John Smith. Actually…the Doctor. That way it'll sound like it was just her doctor who did this for her."

"Of course, sir." The Doctor nodded at her and turned to leave. He quickly turned back around, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "What about my coat?" He pulled on his ear.

"Biohazard. We'll have to burn it."

"Right…figured. Have a nice day." He made his way back to the TARDIS to try and find his Athena.

Athena was lying down on a park bench, watching the clouds. She had just finished visiting Jeremy. It had left her crying, like always. She always came to this park bench afterwards to watch the clouds. It then felt like time froze, for just a few seconds. People had stopped moving and the wind had stopped blowing. Then, it all resumed. She sat up and shook her head. She looked around and she started trembling. She reached into her back pocket for her phone. She started searching through her contacts to try to find 'Doctor'.

"I…uhm…" she whipped around at the sound of the familiar voice. "I found your camera." The Doctor was standing down the path a little bit, holding her camera, and giving her a sheepish smile.

"My camera?"

"Yeah, it was in my pocket. Forgot I had it."

Athena stared at him. It hit her like a tidal wave. It hadn't been her doctor from the hospital that paid the extra amount for her, it had been her Doctor. Her eyes widened. She remembered looking up at his face. That must've been why she trusted him when they met the day after the pub.

Athena put on her best poker face and stood up. "I'll take that off your hands then." The Doctor smiled and walked towards her. He stopped a few feet in front of her and held out the camera. Athena smiled and took it from him, set it down on the park bench, then slapped his arm.

"The Doctor'?! Really?!" She slapped the side of his head, "Really? That was you?!" She pushed him and tried to hit him again.

"Ow! Okay, stop! Stop it, Athena!" He grabbed her wrists and pushed them to her sides, giving her an Oncoming Storm glare. "Yes, it was me."

"You called me Athena."

"Yeah…"

"That was the first time I heard that name. Oh, that was my inspiration for my stage name, you cheeky bastard!" She tried to move to hit him again, but the Doctor held firm. He did laugh though, that was a strange thing to get worked up over.

"What the hell sort of a name is 'John Smith'?" She shouted at him.

"A really good alias, thank you very much!" He shouted back.

"How so very original!" She shouted again. They stopped for a second and stared at each other. Then they started laughing. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her. "Sorry about your jacket…" she muttered into his chest.

He laughed, "It's okay, I got a new one."

"I was about to call."

"Yeah, I saw."

"I remembered. You changed my memories."

"Yeah, I did." He rubbed her back and rested his chin on top of her head.

"You saved me…thank you. But not Jeremy." The Doctor stiffened in response.

"I couldn't. It would have created a parallel universe run by Reapers where people would've been killed every day until they got Jeremy."

"That doesn't make any sense. A past experience?"

"Yeah…Rose tried to save her father once. She almost destroyed the planet."

Athena couldn't help but laugh a little, "Thank you anyways. For saving me, at least."

The Doctor smiled down at her. "Don't mention it." He kissed her. Nothing aggressive, but something a bit more than friendly.

Athena broke the kiss. "Why? Why did you do that?"

"Kiss you or…"

"No. I know why you kissed me. Why did you take me to the hospital?"

"Had to make it up to you."

"So you still regret everything, don't you?" Poison lacing her words.

"No, no I don't. And I didn't. I don't regret anything I did with you. It was just…I didn't give you time to recover. My name is a promise, Athena. The Doctor is a promise. I needed to give you time to heal. I didn't help you."

"Doctor, you forget. I came from the streets. The person who pummels you one day could be your ally the next. You aren't given time for prolonged recovery. You have to make it happen as quickly as possible."

"You are a fighter, aren't you?" Athena laughed at him. He turned pink, he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"That's why I picked my name. Because I researched it after you called me that and found out what it meant!" Athena slapped his arm, but still smiled at him. The Doctor smiled back and grabbed her backpack off the bench and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on, Athena. We have places to go." He held out his hand and Athena took it.

Athena knew he had just needed time to cool off. "Didn't think you'd take this long, Doctor."

"Oh, shut up." He laughed a little, looked down at her and smiled. Everything seemed okay.


	17. Lazy Day in the TARDIS

bit of a filler chapter, but it's fun anways...or at least i think so...R&R if you want :)

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Athena woke up in the Doctor's bed. This had been a steady occurrence for several weeks. They'd go on an adventure, or even just spend the day in the TARDIS, and then one of them would give the other a look, the look. Then, suddenly, they would be all over each other, pulling off clothes and pushing each other against walls. They would almost always end up in his bed, sometimes her bed, and once in the library. She smiled up at the ceiling and pulled the sheets up to her chest to block out the draft. "Doctor?"

"I'm cooking!" she heard the Doctor shout from down the hall. "Breakfast is ready!"

Athena reached towards the floor and grabbed her oversized shirt and knickers and got dressed as best as she could. She walked towards the galley and could smell the Doctor's favorite: banana French toast and scrambled eggs. She smiled and walked into the galley and sat down across from the Doctor, who was drinking coffee from his TARDIS blue mug. He was in his favorite flannel pajama pants and a plain white undershirt, his usual pajamas before they started sharing a bed.

"Morning." Athena chimed.  
"Morning, sexy." The Doctor replied and smiled. He poured her some coffee and they started eating. The Doctor almost always ate faster than Athena. He pushed his plate away and sat back and watched her. He felt a smile spread across his face. Athena glanced up at him and quirked an eyebrow up at him. "You look good with sex hair." He growled to emphasize his point. Athena flung some of her eggs at him and he threw them back. "No, really, you do." He got up from his chair and hovered over her, moving her head upwards and kissing her, and roughly forced his tongue into her mouth. He broke their kiss and cleared the table.

"You're being sweet, Doctor."

"Really now?" he smirked.

"I'm a rough girl. Rough is sweet." She winked and finished her coffee. The Doctor laughed and started cleaning the dishes. He loved every moment of this. There wasn't anything officially spoken between them as far as titles went, they were just in a happy state of being in love. Or, at least he was. He was okay with it. He knew it would end, but he needed to live for himself. Better to have loved and lost to have never loved at all; he had already lived through that and he never wanted to again. Besides, the Time Lord laws and stigmas no longer controlled him. "Where do you want to go today, Athena?"

"You're the one with the universe packed into their head." She leaned back in her chair, "you tell me."

"Different historic time for Earth or a different planet?"

"We just did a different planet, so a different time for Earth."

"What was your favorite history lesson growing up?" He asked.

Athena contemplated for a minute. She really had no idea.

"Any idea? At all? It's not like you to be quiet, Athena." He teased.

"The Boston Tea Party!" She decided.

"Leave it to you to like the rebellions." The Doctor laughed. "But no."

"Why not?" Athena sounded slightly upset.

"I've already been there. Can't risk running into myself. Bad things could happen. Well…maybe happen. It'd probably really just be awkward, but I don't want to risk it."

"Oh…I understand." Athena worried her lip a bit then her eyes widened. "Dinosaurs."

"Excuse me?" The Doctor almost choked.

"Dinosaurs. Why not? Can we make the TARDIS hover and watch the dinosaurs?"

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. He could make the TARDIS hover, no problem, but this was the strangest request he had ever gotten. "Uhm, yeah. We can do that."

"If you don't want to…" Athena started.

"No, we will. But I'm picking the next stop. I almost would rather face Daleks than dinosaurs." Athena laughed at his comment and got out of her chair. "That's a long time we'll be going back Athena, it'll take a while."

"That's fine."

"That's at least 65 million years in the past." He stated, matter-of-factly.

"Okay."

"That's going to be…oh…48 hours. At least." There it was, the look. Athena smirked at him. "We'll find something to do, don't worry Doctor." She winked at him and started to leave the galley.

The Doctor threw his towel into the sink. He followed her, quickening his pace. He pushed her against the wall from behind. He kissed the back of her neck and wrapped his arms around her abdomen and reached up to grope her breasts. She ground her hips back into his, causing him to moan. He backed off her, turned her around, and bent down to pick her up and threw her over his shoulder. She pounded his back, trying to get him to let her down.

He laughed at her fruitless attempts and ran them into the console room. He ran around the console room, pushing buttons and pulling levels to send them to see the dinosaurs. He set the TARDIS for 100 million years ago.

The Doctor walked out of console room and past their bedrooms and library.

Athena could feel the blood rushing to her head. She gave up hitting him on the back a while ago. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." The Doctor quickened his pace. He opened a door and the smell of chlorine met his nostrils.

"Don't you dare!" Athena shouted, laughing at the same time.

"Too late!" The Doctor threw her into the TARDIS's pool. She surfaced and wiped her hair and the water out of her face. The Doctor took his pajama pants off, folded them and set them on a bench, and jumped in after her. The chlorine didn't bother his eyes like it did her's, so he opened his eyes, found Athena standing on the tips of her toes, swam under her and launched her into the air.

Athena surfaced again and splashed the Doctor. She had never been in the TARDIS's pool before. It was relatively plain, like a lap pool almost. She figured the Doctor used it for exercise rather than recreation.

"You're an evil man, Doctor." Athena teased.

"Yeah, people tell me that all the time." He taunted back. He could stand in the water, no problem. He grabbed Athena and held her, that way she didn't tire herself out treading water. "You said, back in Greece, you aren't a strong swimming. Want to practice?"

"Not particularly, I'm afraid you'll keep throwing me." She splashed him and he dropped her.

He mocked offense, "You don't trust me?" Athena laughed at him and swam towards the exit ladder. "Aww Athena…leaving so soon?"

"Yep!" she responded, mimicking him. "I have something to do, anyways."

"Oh…okay. Sorry." Athena climbed out and the Doctor followed her. He tried his best not to notice how her wet shirt clung to her. Too bad it was black, if it had been white he could've seen everything.

"No, it's fine. Just something I remembered."

"Right."

"Shower first. Get the chlorine out of my hair."

"Yes…of course."

Athena left the pool and the Doctor stood in the empty room. Athena poked her head through the doors, "Shower."

"Yeah, I heard you." The Doctor said, shuffling his feet.

"You not coming?" She asked. The Doctor smirked at her and grabbed his pajama pants and caught up with her.

They showered in Athena's bathroom. The steam filled both her bathroom and her bedroom. They stayed in for hours, getting clean was not the main idea.

The TARDIS felt like she was running low on water, so she switched their hot water off and turned it ice cold, causing both the Doctor and Athena to yelp and run out of the shower. The Doctor grabbed Athena's towels and they dried themselves off. The cold water had killed the mood and the Doctor shot an angry glare at the ceiling. Athena rubbed his arm, trying to calm him down. She knew she shouldn't step in his way when he was angry, but she didn't want him to dismantle part of the TARDIS.

The Doctor put his pajama pants on, leaving his boxers and shirt to dry near the fire the TARDIS had started for them. Athena put on another oversized shirt. The Doctor jumped onto Athena's bed and laid across it, staring at the ceiling. He turned onto his stomach and noticed his book of Gallifreyan History. "Oh, I've been looking for this!" He picked up the book and thumbed through the pages. "What's it doing here?"

"I took it from the library." Athena turned her easel around so the Doctor couldn't see the canvas.

"Why?"

"I just…was curious." She lied. Well, she was curious, but that wasn't why she took it. She started a painting for him, as a thank you. She had just remembered she hadn't finished it. She was almost done, she just had a few more details. She didn't need the book anymore, she had memorized the picture she was copying. She was painting a Gallifreyan city encased in a bubble.

The Doctor smirked at her, "you going to paint me, Athena?" He teased, "do I need to…?" He bent his leg up and rested his head on his hand. Athena laughed at him, "No, no sexy poses. I'm not painting you."

"Oh, fine then." He got up and grabbed Athena's camera and took a couple pictures of Athena while she painted. He searched through the pictures she had taken. He started at the beginning of their time together. The pictures had slowly morphed from pictures of the landscapes and native populations to them taking pictures of each other to pictures of the two of them together, whether it was them taking the picture or someone they could stop and ask to take it for them. They still got some of the places they visited, but there were so many more of them than there were earlier on. The Doctor felt a warmness spread through his chest. They had hundreds of pictures.

"I'll be back." He said to Athena. She nodded and he took the camera to his computer room. He uploaded all of the pictures onto his computer and printed them all off. It took his printer an hour to print everything. While they were printing, the Doctor managed to find an empty book they could use as a picture album, glue, and some scissors.

He took all of the supplies back to Athena's room, laid it out on the floor, and quickly made sure the pictures were in order. He cut out each picture and glued it to the book; he could fit two to a page.

Athena cleared her throat. The Doctor looked down at his stack of remaining pictures and figured he was about a quarter of the way through and had plenty of the book left. He looked back up at Athena, who was standing in front of her easel with a huge smile on her face.

"What is it, sweetheart?" He smiled back.

"A thank you gift. I started it…forever ago it seems." The Doctor smiled even wider at her. "Sorry it's taken so long to finish it."

"Finish what?" The Doctor stood up and took Athena's hand and led them to the other side of the canvas. "Oh…" The Doctor's eyes began to well. "It's beautiful." He choked back a sob. Athena had painted The Citadel almost as gloriously as the Doctor had remembered it.

"Doctor, are you okay?" The Doctor didn't respond. He wrapped his arms around Athena from behind. He rest his head on her shoulder.

"It's beautiful, Athena." He kissed her ear. "Absolutely beautiful." He kissed her neck. "This is The Citadel. One of three cities on Gallifrey. The biggest and the first. I lived their. In fact, I lived right around there." The Doctor pointed between two towers within the city. "I wish I could take you there. But humans weren't really welcome anyways."

"Is that why you regretted it the first time? This isn't allowed?"

"It was a factor, yeah." Athena leaned her head against his chest. They stared at the painting for several more minutes.

"Come see what I'm doing." The Doctor wiped his eyes and grabbed her hand and led her over to his soon-to-be photo album. "It's all your pictures since you started travelling with me." He sat down and pulled Athena onto his lap. "You said you wanted a photo album."

"That's going to be wonderful." She flipped through a few of the pages. She smiled and kissed his forehead, the she scrunched up her face. She climbed off him and onto her bed and laid down. "Athena, are you okay?"

"Yeah…just all of a sudden not feeling well." The Doctor stood up and moved to the side of her bed.

"Oh…do you need me to take you to the medbay? I can run some tests." He pet her hair.

"No, just tired. I think it's from the standing and the paint fumes, it's hurting my head."  
"Oh…okay. Well, just rest, okay?" The Doctor pulled her blankets over her. He kissed her forehead. "I'll keep working on our photo album." Athena mumbled something incoherently before drifting off to sleep. The Doctor sat back down on the ground and worked on the photo album.


	18. Help From Captain Jack

I'm completely blown away with the amount of views I've had, it makes me happy :3 thank you so much!

To answer your question, Imou: this story takes place just after the Doctor wiped Donna's mind, so it's post-Journey's End. I've got the rest of Ten's (or technically Twelve's) adventures after Journey's End that i'll be writing Athena into. it's going to be quite a long ride.

i hope you enjoy the chapter...like i said, it's a long ride so sit tight.

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The Doctor had been finished with the photo album for about twenty-four hours before the TARDIS signaled that they were now hovering over Earth, 100 million years in the past.

Athena had slept while the Doctor finished the album. She also slept about sixteen of the twenty-four hours after he finished the album. The Doctor was really worried about her. Humans needed their sleep, but this seemed a little ridiculous.

The Doctor let himself into Athena's room, where she was napping. He walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge. He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her a little, "Athena, come on, we landed. Well…arrived." Athena groaned and rolled over. "Come on, Athena, allons-y!" He tried to pull her up but she was completely dead weight. For some reason, even his advanced Time Lord biology was having difficulty. Probably because he hadn't slept since before they decided to see the dinosaurs seventy-something hours ago. "Come on, Athena! Dinosaurs!"

Athena shot up. "There you are!" The Doctor beamed. Athena almost ran out of bed and into her bathroom. "Athena?" The Doctor followed her with his eyes. He then heard her throw up. "Stephanie!" He ran into the bathroom and held her hair. After she finished she brushed her teeth and washed out her mouth. He would either rub her back or shoulders or wrap his arms around her waist, anything to keep contact. He wondered if he would be able to detect anything wrong with her so he licked her cheek, earning him an incredulous look from Athena.

"Everything seems to be okay." He pushed Athena's hair behind her ear and stared into her eyes, as if trying to examine her. "You look okay, you taste okay, you smell okay. What is it?"

"Doctor, it's fine. Maybe something we ate expired and it's not affecting you because of your superior Time Lord biology." She was making fun of him. The Doctor rolled his eyes dramatically. She laughed, "nothing to worry about!" He laughed along with her, just for a second.

Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed. Luckily for her she fell towards the Doctor and he was able to catch her. He picked her up and held her to his chest. He carried her to her bed and laid her down. "Sorry Athena," he muttered, "no dinosaurs."

He ran to the console room and set the coordinates for Torchwood, 2009. He ran back into Athena's room and ran a washcloth under some warm water and laid it on her forehead. He pulled a chair up to the side of her bed, sat down, and waited.

After two hours, she still didn't wake up. It wasn't like she was sleeping, rather like she was comatose. She hadn't been shifting in her sleep or anything. The Doctor picked her up and carried her to the medbay. She was limp in his arms and her head fell back. The TARDIS, luckily enough, moved it right across the hall from her bedroom. The Doctor laid her on the examination bed, put his glasses on, and stuck an IV in her arm.

He pulled his medical scanner over to the bed, positioned it over her and programmed it to scan for every human disease.

After three hours of the Doctor pacing around the medbay and the TARDIS, the TARDIS told him the test results were finished. He snapped to attention and found himself in the field he and Athena had watched the clouds in.

He ran to the medbay and ran to the monitor. Nothing. There was nothing wrong with her. She was still unconscious but all of her vitals were stable. That gave the Doctor a little bit of relief.

He programmed the scanner to scan for everything. Anything and everything. He started wandering around the TARDIS again. Ten hours later, the TARDIS told him the tests were done. Still nothing. She wasn't exhausted, they had been resting plenty. She was getting considerably more than the recommended eight hours for humans actually. He hit the monitor and ran to the console room. He couldn't take the wait anymore, he still had 20 hours until he got to Torchwood. He kicked the TARDIS into overdrive. Power went out throughout most of the TARDIS and transferred to the motor.

The TARDIS landed, quite roughly, outside of Torchwood Tower.

Captain Jack Harkness had seen the TARDIS suddenly appear on his monitors. He grabbed his keys and ran out of the office and out onto the plaza. He saw the Doctor peer out of his TARDIS. They made eye contact and the Doctor stormed out of the TARDIS towards Jack.

"Hey Doctor! Nice to see you so soon!" He beamed, excited to see his old friend.

"I need your help, Jack."

"What's wrong?" The grin was wiped off his face instantly.

"It's Athena."

"Whoa there, what's wrong? I'm not good with relationship advice." He teased. The Doctor shot him a look to tell him to shut up. "Right, you were saying?"

"She passed out and I don't know what's wrong. All of my scanners are saying she's okay but she's not waking up. I can't wake her up. All her vitals are normal…I just…" The Doctor held back tears. Jack put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"We'll figure it out, Doctor. Where is she?" The Doctor led the way into the TARDIS and into the medbay.

Jack quickly moved to her bedside. The Doctor stayed behind, observing.

"Doctor, what have you two been up to? Did you take here anywhere that was harmful to humans?"

"No, I haven't. I check atmospheres before we leave the TARDIS. We wear space suits if necessary but that's rare."

"Has she been doing anything really physical recently?"

The Doctor turned a little pink, "No, nothing…inhuman."

Jack looked at his friend and let out a triumphant laugh. "No…no! No way, Doctor!"

"Stop it…"

"Doctor, this is huge. Especially for you!" He was beaming. The Doctor, finally stepping out of his comfort zone. Jack was actually rather proud of him. And impressed with Athena for pulling him out of it.

"Jack, I said stop it." His voice was not quite stern, almost as if he was trying not to smile.

Jack couldn't help the huge grin on his face. "You sure Time Lord juice doesn't hurt humans?" He laughed as he teased the Doctor. Every comment he had made the Doctor squirm a little more, Jack was enjoying this.

"I said stop it." He gave his traditional Oncoming Storm glare.

Jack's expression immediately grew solemn. "She's not pregnant, is she?"

The Doctor blanched and his eyes widened. "No…no that's not possible. Time Lords and humans? No…it can't be."

"Are you sure?"

The Doctor gulped. He pulled the medical scanner over her abdomen and turned it on to form a 3D hologram of an ultrasound. The Doctor gripped Jack's shoulder and let out a sigh of relief, "See, nothing there, I told you it was impossible!" He frowned and pushed the medical scanner away, a bit more forcefully than he needed to.

"But you didn't know, Doctor."

The Doctor straightened up, sniffed the air, and straightened his tie. "I know now. Can't happen."

"Or hasn't." Jack shot back.

"Jack…"

"I'm serious, Doctor. Look, you've never been this involved with a companion before. Figure out what can happen between Time Lords and humans. The biology is very similar." He pushed his finger into the Doctor's chest to emphasize his point, "Don't risk it. Otherwise you'll have me to answer to. I can get nasty, Doctor. I'm a soldier too."

The Doctor gulped.

"Has this ever happened with any other companion, Doctor? Passing out like this?"

"No, never. Not randomly, anyways."

Jack nodded. He was convinced this had something to do with Athena and the Doctor's new relationship, "If something does happen, Doctor, don't even think about dumping her somewhere."

"I would never."

"Are you sure?" He knew the Doctor didn't do domestic. The Doctor gave him his Oncoming Storm glare again. Jack had grown some sort of immunity to it, probably his confidence in his immortality. "Answer me, Doctor."

"I'm positive. I wouldn't leave her defenseless. Not her." He stormed to her side, and as soon as he was near her he slowed. He pushed her hair away from her face and slowly ran his fingers down her cheek.

Jack studied him for a moment, completely transfixed. He saw the Doctor's eyes fixed on Athena. They were filled with admiration. He saw the Doctor's jaw relax and the rest of his muscles follow suit. He even had a ghost of a smile as he touched her.

Jack smiled and laughed, shaking the Doctor from his moment. Jack ran up to the Doctor and hugged him, picking him off the ground.

"Jack, put me down!" He tried to squirm out of his grasp, but was unsuccessful.

"You're domestic now buddy, it's written all over your face!" He set the Doctor down, who immediately smoothed out his jacket, straightened his tie, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"You so are too, Doctor." The Doctor rolled his eyes at his friend, but he couldn't help but smile a little bit. He had to admit, he was disappointed when the ultrasound was blank.

"We should let her rest." Jack wheeled the Doctor out of the medbay, ignoring his protests about how he needed to be there in case Athena woke up.

Jack led them to the galley, forced the Doctor into a chair, and made them some coffee. "How long has she been with you, Doctor?"

"About a year since we last saw you. She had been with me for a couple months before that."

"Really? You've only been gone two months for me."

"Time travel." The Doctor responded.

"Yeah, I know." Jack laughed, "How long did it take her?"

"Take her to what?"

"To change you."

"I'm not changed, Jack."

"Yes you are. You're completely different from the last time I saw you." Jack smiled at his friend. "In a good way."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you really are. You can't get enough of her, can you? There's a certain spring in your step that only comes with—" Jack whistled a couple staccato notes.

The Doctor turned pink and Jack laughed. Their conversation was basically over. The Doctor inquired about Torchwood and received little response from him, saying it was 'Top Secret'. They sat in amiable, but slightly awkward silence.

They were each finishing their second cup of coffee when a resounding "Doctor!" made it's way through the halls. The Doctor bolted from the galley and into the medbay. Jack sat in the galley, completely dumbfounded by what he just witnessed. The Doctor running to Athena, as though she was in danger, even though the TARDIS was probably the safest place in the universe. Jack couldn't help but laugh. He washed out their mugs, figuring he'd give them a minute before he went to ruin their moment.

Athena woke up in the medical bay again. She hated it when that happened. She had just shouted for the Doctor and he ran into the room seconds later, out of breath. He looked at her, beamed, and ran up to her. "You're awake…you're finally awake." He grabbed his face and kissed her very carefully, as if he might break her. Jack had already made his way into the medbay and leaned against the doorframe. The Doctor leaned his head against her forehead, "You're okay…"

"Aw, you guys are so cute!" Jack exclaimed and jumped like a schoolboy.

"Who let him back on board?" Athena growled.

"I needed a second opinion." The Doctor answered, smoothing out her hair. "Please, don't get mad at him. It was my idea." He whispered.

Athena snarled a little bit then laid back down, her face contorting in pain. "Athena! Athena, what's wrong?" The Doctor grasped her hand. "Athena, please talk to me."

Jack was by the Doctor's side in a flash. "Athena, tell the Doctor what's wrong."

"Just a headache. A migraine." Her body lurched again, "And it feels like my entire abdomen is in knots." She managed to get out through strangled breaths. The Doctor's face was etched with worry. The TARDIS dimmed the lights in the medbay to try to ease her pain.

Jack rummaged through the drawers, "Doctor, where's the aspirin?"

"No, no aspirin on board, I'm allergic." He clung to Athena's hand, he didn't even bother to look up at Jack.

"You're allergic?" Jack asked, turning on his heel and looked at the Doctor as though he'd grown another head. "Allergic, you? You have allergies?" The Doctor mirrored Jack's expression.

"Yeah. Allergic. Ibuprofen is in the next drawer over."

Jack found the painkillers and gave them to Athena, who took more than the Doctor wanted, but she was faster than him. He took the bottle away from her and set it on the counter out of her reach. "We're just going to have to wait until you're healthy again." The Doctor started. "No adventures until then."

"What's wrong with me?"

"We don't know." The Doctor started. Jack finished, "We tested everything."

Athena looked at the two men. "In fact," Jack started, "The Doctor was just about to go do some research in the library." Athena shot a look at Jack who mirrored that look at the Doctor.

"Oh, all right." The Doctor smiled at Athena, "get some rest sweetheart." The Doctor kissed her forehead headed to the library. Jack followed the Doctor out of the medbay.

"You're a speed reader, right Doctor?"

"If I want to be, yeah."

"I'll bring you the books and you'll read them." The Doctor shot a look at Jack, then mumbled "Deal."

Jack and the Doctor had been in the library for several hours. The Doctor had read through thirty books and taken notes and formulated a hundred theories.

The more he read, the more theories he crossed off. Then there was just one theory left. The Doctor stared at it, in disbelief. He read through all thirty books again. As soon as the Doctor restarted the first one, Jack decided to give up and he laid down on the sofa and fell asleep.

The Doctor finished the books four hours later and looked back at his notepad. He couldn't believe it. He picked up the book closest to him and hurled it at the wall, shouting as he threw it.

The noise woke Jack up with such alarm he fell off the couch. Once he regained his bearings, Jack shot up and ran to the Doctor. He was throwing books against walls and screaming at nothing.

Jack got behind the Doctor and pulled his elbows down and next to his ribcage, immobilizing his upper body. The Doctor kicked out, trying to break free. Jack pulled the Doctor over to the couch and forced him to sit. The Doctor fell over onto the couch, crying. He spread across the couch and punched it several times.

"Doctor, what is it?!" Jack shouted over his shouting.

The Doctor pointed towards the table he had been working at and moaned out of agony and wrapped his arms around his head and cowered into himself. Jack left his friend and walked over to the table. He picked up the notepad and noticed a ton of words and phrases that had scratch marks through them. Except for one: Gallifreyan-Human Hybrid Miscarriage.

Jack felt tears stinging his eyes. He let the notepad fall back to the table. He turned his attention back to the Doctor and blinked back his tears. He observed the Doctor, he was sitting up now and outright sobbing. He wasn't even trying to hide it. The man who never wanted a domestic life, crying because the possibility had just been snatched from him.

Jack walked over towards the Doctor. He sat down next to him and put his arm around his friend's shoulders. The Doctor leaned against his friend and continued to sob. Jack rubbed the Doctor's arm.

Almost as suddenly as the tears started, the Doctor straightened himself up. He wiped his hands over his face, trying to get rid of the evidence of his crying. He leaned forward and away from Jack, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at his hands.

"That's why none of the tests picked it up," the Doctor started, "My scanner doesn't scan for hybrids." The Doctor frowned, "I'll need to fix that."

"If you don't mind me asking, Doctor…," Jack started. The Doctor interrupted, "it must've been too small for the ultrasound to detect. And mine can detect something months before a human one can. Or her body has already—"

Jack shouted over the Doctor, "How are you going to tell Athena?"

"I'm not." The Doctor replied, face blank.

"I'm sorry?" Jack asked. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"She has no idea what happened. No idea it could've happened. I'm not going to tell her. I'm going to be more careful."

"Doctor…"

"She doesn't need another tragedy, Jack." The Doctor snapped, turning to face his friend.

"Tell her the truth. You can't lie to her." The Doctor slumped over again at Jack's statement, turning away from him.

"Another tragedy will kill her." The Doctor sniffed and wiped his eyes again, "Besides, she probably didn't want it anyways. She doesn't do domestic either."

"Did you?" The Doctor looked back at him. Jack repeated himself, "Did you want it?"

"I was relieved when her ultrasound was blank. But then I was..." The Doctor trailed off and shifted his gaze down, "I had a family on Gallifrey, Jack. Children, grandchildren, everything. The thought that I could've had another…" he turned himself away again, "she doesn't love me, Jack."

"Oh, don't assume that."

"She's never said it, Jack. I tell her all the time. Well, not all the time, but way more than I'm comfortable with admitting. Every time we…at least once, sometimes even twice. She's never said it. Not once. She wouldn't want anything with me."

"You don't know that." The Doctor let his shoulders drop.

Jack continued, "She could be like me, afraid of commitment. Had too many people walk out on our lives, she and I. You too. She's also independent, that one. She may not want to admit it."

"You have no proof." The Doctor snapped back.

"When she spent the night at Torchwood, in between her screaming and groaning, she said something else in her sleep." The Doctor turned to Jack, hopeful, "'Doctor.' Over and over again. She needs you."

The Doctor returned his attention to his feet. He gulped, "I'm still not telling her."

"I'm going to try to not tell you what to do, Doctor. But I can't make promises. Just take care of her. It looks like she takes very good care of you. I think you may have even gained some weight, which is good, you were always too skinny." Jack laughed to himself but the Doctor remained stoic. Jack cleared his throat and patted his friend on the back. "I'll leave you alone for a bit." Jack squeezed his friend's shoulder and left the library to re-familiarize himself with the old ship.

The Doctor sat on the couch. He saw his and Athena's photo album on the side table. He grabbed it and began flipping through the pages. He studied each picture. And in several of the pictures of him and Athena he couldn't help but imagine a small, Gallifreyan-Human hybrid in one of their arms.


End file.
